Without Wings
by GuardianSaiyoko
Summary: Spoilers for games 1-3. If you change just one little moment of your life, what else changes with it? What if Phoenix had been in the elevator that day? Eventual Miles/Phoenix, also has Diego/Mia. Possible Maya/Franziska while we're at it.
1. One

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Originally written for a prompt, "What if Phoenix was in the elevator that day," and... went wildly out of control from there.

* * *

**Without Wings**

**I. **

* * *

After the class trial, Miles was curious. His could understand Phoenix's gratitude up to a point. The other boy seemed _too_grateful, though, even to him, and he thought it was kind of odd that Phoenix didn't seem to have a whole lot of friends. Phoenix was really nice, after all. 

Miles had confided these thoughts in his father. Gregory Edgeworth had grown very thoughtful before assuring Miles that he would look into his friend's situation, whatever it might be.

For near to a month Miles didn't hear anything else about it. He trusted his father, though, and he trusted his father's assurances that there was an ongoing investigation. Meanwhile, Miles spent more time with Larry and Phoenix both inside and outside of school. He noticed that Phoenix never mentioned his own home, or family, or anything even loosely related to the subject, for that matter. If Miles tried to bring it up Phoenix changed the subject. Larry, on the other hand, complained incessantly about his foster father. (Privately, Miles thought that the man's opinion of Larry's grades was scarily accurate, but he didn't tell his friend that.) When Miles mentioned these conversations to his father, something in Gregory's expression seemed to cement.

One day Phoenix didn't show up for school. He'd never missed a day before.

It seemed ridiculous to worry. He was probably just home sick. All the same, the first thing Miles did when he got home was blurt out, "Phoenix wasn't in school today."

It wasn't hard to see how much this distressed Miles. His father laid a hand on his shoulder and said quietly, "Wait here. Detective Xenia and I will go and check on your friend."

Frightened now, because the involvement of a detective implied that Phoenix was in serious trouble and not just sick, Miles nodded. He stayed very still as his father let go of his shoulder and moved past him. It wasn't until he heard the front door open and then click shut that he moved, going into his dad's office and sitting on the floor by the bookcase where he read through old case files. Most of the time, however, his eyes were glued to the clock.

Finally, at 7:42 that night, nearly four hours since his father had left, he heard the sound of the front door opening and hushed voices. Miles jumped up and crept cautiously to the office door, standing as unobtrusively as possible in the doorway.

His father and Detective Xenia stood just inside the door, talking quietly. Miles' heart skipped a beat when he saw his father was carrying Phoenix.

Phoenix had his head turned towards Gregory Edgeworth's chest and was drawing sharp, quick breaths like he was trying not to cry. One hand was clenched in Gregory's coat. Phoenix's other arm was in a sling.

Unsure what to make of this, Miles stayed where he was.

"Are you sure, Gregory?" Detective Xenia was saying in a low voice. "My partner and I would be happy to take him. We've been looking to adopt."

A strange jolt went through Miles at the word _adopt._He forced himself not to react.

"I still think this is best," his father said firmly. "He's my son's best friend, you know. Miles has been very worried about him- if he hadn't been so concerned this could have gone on much longer." His voice dropped lower, became a whisper, and Miles strained to hear it. "This boy could have died." Then his father's voice was back to normal as he said warmly, "But if anything should happen to me, Detective, I expect you to make sure both these boys are looked after."

Xenia agreed to this with a smile before leaving. Once she was gone, Gregory strode into the house and laid Phoenix gently on the couch before calling, "Miles?"

Miles left the office and went to stand beside the couch. Gregory carefully disentangled Phoenix's hand from his coat and Miles tried not to stare as his friend turned away and closed his eyes and lay very still.

"Come with me," said his father and Miles followed him into the kitchen. Gregory started tea brewing, which was unusual for this time of night, and gazed at Miles as though considering. Miles gazed back, even though he was tense from the desire to go and check on Phoenix.

After a long moment his father sighed. "Miles... I've always been honest with you before, and I expect you'd know if I weren't honest now." He clasped his hands together. "You already know there are bad people out there. People who do bad things. They... hurt other people." _Sometimes they kill other people_, he did not add.

Miles nodded, uneasy now.

Gregory exhaled loudly. "Sometimes those bad people end up in positions they never should have been allowed. Phoenix," he explained carefully, "Ended up being taken care of by some very bad people. He was in foster care- you know what that is, right, Miles?" Miles nodded again. "Phoenix was in foster care and no one thought to do a background check on his foster parents. The people who were supposed to be taking care of your friend... were hurting him instead." He stopped again, almost long enough to make Miles think he was done, before adding softly, "Phoenix is very lucky to have you as a friend."

Miles didn't know what to say to that, so he didn't say anything.

After another long moment his father sighed again and got up. The tea was done, so he collected it on his way out of the kitchen, Miles trailing after him.

Gregory shook Phoenix's shoulder very lightly to rouse him. Phoenix flinched and then scrambled unsteadily to a sitting position, his eyes darting between Miles and Mr. Edgeworth. He looked really lost, Miles realized, and he was clutching his injured arm with his uninjured one.  
"H-hi, M-M-Miles," Phoenix stammered. He didn't seem to want to look directly at anyone and settled for fixing his gaze on some distant point instead.

"Hi, Phoenix," Miles replied quietly, and at a nudge from his father, clambered up beside his friend on the couch. Gregory handed them each a mug of tea, left briefly to get another mug for himself, and returned to sit cross-legged on the floor across from the boys.

Phoenix was holding onto his mug very tightly with his one working hand. He was trembling very badly, though, and Miles set down his own mug so that he could reach over and steady Phoenix's.

"Thanks," Phoenix whispered, and with his friend's help he took a long gulp of tea. Miles helped him lower the mug, looking at him with concern, and Phoenix shied away again when Gregory chuckled. After a moment, though, Phoenix asked in that same scared whisper, "Can I stay here this weekend?"

"I rather hoped you would," Gregory said mildly, placing his hands on his knees, palms up. "In fact I've already called you both into school tomorrow." Miles scowled at this but didn't comment. "Since you've got Monday off that gives you a four-day weekend to settle in." He leaned forward earnestly- years in a courtroom had taught him that body language could speak volumes where words might not be believed. "You can stay as long as you like, Phoenix. That is, provided it's all right with Miles."

He tried to read the look on Phoenix's face as the boy's head swivelled to face Miles. Gratitude, terror, hope, pleading, and anxiety all flashed through the boy's eyes before Miles nodded sharply and for the first time that he could recall Gregory regretted his son's tendency to think deeply about every situation before making a decision. His hesitation had hurt his friend; that much was clear from the way Phoenix returned to clutching his arm and gazed at the floor. His eyes were beginning to look glittery, too, which wasn't surprising considering what his day had been like. Detective Xenia had gotten them access to the boy's home swiftly enough due to the ongoing investigation of his living situation and they'd ended up having to search a nearly empty house for him- they had eventually found Phoenix locked in the basement, trying to finish homework left-handed and nursing a broken arm. They'd had to take him to the hospital before returning here. He hadn't even encountered Phoenix's foster parents yet, which might have been a good thing because he wasn't sure he could have stopped himself hitting someone. Xenia had left a court summons and they'd both alleviated their anger by pulling some strings to ensure the man prosecuting the case would be Manfred von Karma.

"Miles," he said at last. "Take Phoenix up to the guest room, would you? Or if you would like," he added in a sudden burst of inspiration, "You could go and get the spare bedding from the closet and you two could have a sleepover down here. I can find some movies for you to watch."

Phoenix didn't reply to that in any way that Gregory understood. He did, however, look at Miles, and after a moment Miles translated, "He'd like that." Then he slid off the couch and went, presumably, to fetch pillows and blankets. Gregory got up himself and gathered movies for the boys- older Westerns and sci-fi, mainly, since despite Miles' love of courtroom dramas he suspected Phoenix would prefer something a little less... dusty. When he came back he was not surprised to see Phoenix and Miles huddled up together on the couch, a huge quilt draped over them both. Phoenix had a one-armed hug on a pillow and was curling into the arm of the couch; Miles sat close beside him and was whispering something. Gregory unobtrusively set the movies down and retreated from the room, seeing that the boys were now too wrapped up in each other to notice the roof falling down around their heads.

"Why didn't you_ say_ anything?" Miles whispered fiercely, eyebrows furrowing in distress.

Phoenix picked at the pillow he was holding, trying hard and failing to ignore the itching and faint pain in his immobilized arm. "I didn't- it wasn't- it wasn't your problem," he mumbled miserably. His voice was strained and harder to hear as he added, "Besides, it wasn't that bad."

At that, Miles drew himself up and glared at his friend, affronted. He regretted it when Phoenix shrank back and actually _whimpered,_ and paused a long moment before saying sternly, "But it _was_ that bad! Phoenix, they _broke your arm_!"

"It was an accident," Phoenix protested, but he didn't sound very certain anymore. He wouldn't look at Miles, either, which was more telling than he knew. "I mean I just- he was- I was just being diff..._difficult,_ and he was...was... frust..trated, and it was an accident, I'm sure he didn't_ mean_ to-"

"Phoenix," Miles interrupted, and his friend stopped talking and finally looked at him. Miles stalled as he tried to think of what his father would do. If Phoenix was on the witness stand giving testimony, his father would be pressing him on anything that seemed unclear, right? "How were you being diffi...difficult?"

Phoenix mumbled something that he couldn't make out. When Miles eyed him suspiciously, he flinched _again_ (and that wasn't normal, Miles was _sure_ that wasn't normal) and repeated himself a little louder. "I didn't want to make dinner- I just wanted to go to bed. I didn't_ feel_ good," he added plaintively.

Gregory moved back into the room at that, startling both boys. "That's hardly your fault. Everyone gets sick sometimes."

"I don't," said Miles proudly. Gregory laughed and ruffled his son's hair fondly. Something sick stirred in his stomach at the undisguised longing on Phoenix's face as the boy's eyes tracked the movement. To alleviate it, he reached over and laid a hand on Phoenix's shoulder.

"My point is that you did nothing wrong," he said directly to Phoenix and was rewarded when the child's face lit up. "People get sick, Phoenix, and when I am sick I certainly don't make dinner. For one thing, that would make everyone who ate it sick, too, and then where would we be?" Phoenix smiled hesitantly at that. "There is no reason someone else couldn't have made dinner that night, or that they couldn't have ordered out." He was very aware that both boys (both_ his_ boys, now, as he was coming to realize more and more) were eagerly soaking up his words. He waited a moment longer, then released Phoenix's shoulder and bade them both goodnight.

When he returned to check on the boys in the morning, Miles was asleep propped up against the arm of the couch. Phoenix had migrated so that he was scrunched beside Miles and had one hand clenched in the other boy's shirt. Gregory smiled and let them be.

Phoenix settled in excruciatingly slowly. They spent the weekend arranging the guest room for him. Gregory asked him if he wanted to retrieve anything from his former home, but Phoenix had adamantly refused, so he took the two boys shopping instead. After some gentle urging, Phoenix began to shyly select things he would like. He didn't seem to want much- a bright blue bedspread, a wooden lamp with a horseshoe nailed to it (he'd lit up when Gregory explained that it was lucky), a poster or two. Anything that Miles expressed distaste for, Phoenix put back. This concerned Gregory but he figured it would pass.

In the second-to-last store they visited, Miles pulled Phoenix all the way to the back almost right away, which was odd for the usually solemn boy. Gregory followed the two at a more sedate pace and caught up just as Miles pulled something down from a shelf and pushed it into Phoenix's hands.

It was a beautifully detailed stuffed phoenix, and as he watched Miles demonstrated that it was a puppet. It was also thirty dollars, Gregory realized as he read the price. He looked at the boys- Phoenix was holding it tightly in the same one-handed grip he'd had on the pillow last night, and on Miles' shirt this morning, and Miles was smiling at his friend happily.

Gregory sighed and pulled out his wallet.

The guest room no longer looked like a guest room, but it also didn't look very lived in. He quickly discovered he was just as likely to find Phoenix asleep on Miles' floor as he was to find Phoenix asleep in his own bed. The stuffed phoenix (lovingly named Firebrand) followed him everywhere in the house and Gregory suspected him of sneaking it with him in his backpack to school some days.

Xenia's partner, Roc, was a therapist. Gregory made sure to get Phoenix regular appointments with her once a week. After every session, though, Phoenix always wanted to talk to Miles right away and the two would go straight up to Miles' room.

"It's not _healthy,_" he told Xenia in frustration over lunch one day. "I don't mind them being close. It's _nice_ that they're so close, it really is. But I don't think Phoenix ever talks to anyone but Miles anymore. He never does anything without Miles' approval, and he always goes along with Miles' ideas- I'm_ worried_, Detective, and I don't know what to do. Separating them would be cruel, but it's not fair to Phoenix to let him become this... this_dependent_ on someone."

"I'll talk to Roc," Xenia promised. "We'll figure something out, all three of us will together."

"Thank you," Gregory said feelingly. He'd never known Xenia to break a promise.

As it turned out, though, this was one she wouldn't be able to keep.

They wouldn't know that yet, though. Christmas was coming up, and this was Phoenix's first Christmas with something like a real family and the Edgeworth's first Christmas since Phoenix had joined them. Miles' big present was in a few days- he'd wanted to go along with his father to court for longer than he could remember and in a few days he'd finally have his chance. Phoenix was coming, too, of course, because where Miles went Phoenix wanted to go too.

The best part of the holiday, Gregory reflected as he reclined in the armchair and watched the two boys curled up on the couch and surrounded by wrapping paper, was seeing the two's reactions to their gifts to each other. He was starting to doubt anything was going to replace Firebrand as far as Phoenix was concerned- even now, the stuffed bird's wings were slung loosely around his neck- but he did look very happy with Miles' gift of a new jacket (with a phoenix on the back, naturally) and Miles looked equally pleased with Phoenix's gift of Alfred Hitchcock's _Solve-It-Yourself Mysteries_. Phoenix had a ribbon in his hair from discarded wrapping paper and the only light in the room was from the Christmas tree. Gregory left to get them all some hot chocolate, stopping on his way out of the room to ruffle both boy's hair briefly. The ribbon fell from Phoenix's hair and landed on Miles instead.

Eventually, of course, it was time for them all to go to sleep for the night, and although he saw both boys shepherded into separate rooms when he came to check on them in the night Phoenix's room was empty again. From Miles' room came faint giggling and when he looked in, a flashlight lit the underside of the comforter and showed the shadowed forms of two boys with a book. Firebrand's tail trailed outside the blanket.

Gregory grinned and shut the door softly.

A few days later he stood in the Defense Lobby with the boys. He'd lost his case, but he'd gotten von Karma a penalty, and he told his boys quietly that that was a victory in itself. Phoenix grinned triumphantly at him and Miles smirked. Gregory sighed to himself a little when he saw the telltale signs of a hidden stuffed phoenix poking out from Phoenix's backpack but decided not to mention it. As they got on the elevator, however, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of Miles picking up a trailing tail feather and raising an eyebrow at Phoenix. He tried not to grin at Phoenix's blush.

The elevator jarred to life just as the bailiff came jogging up, waving for them to hold the elevator. Gregory obligingly held the 'door open' button until the other man got in.

"Thanks," Yogi panted.

"You're welcome," Gregory replied amiably. "These old elevators take forever to come back down- I'd hate for you to miss it."

They'd only been in the elevator for a few moments, not even long enough for Phoenix to convince Miles to try jumping and seeing if he was weightless, when everything gave one tremendous shudder and then went still. Dark and still.

When the emergency lights clicked on seconds later, Gregory immediately checked for the boys. They were in the corner where'd they been tossed as the elevator shook, holding onto each other tightly and wide-eyed with fear.

"It's okay," Gregory said soothingly, waving Yanni off as the other man checked that no one was hurt. "The elevator's just stopped. I'm sure they'll fix it in no time."

Miles nodded hesitantly, slowly letting go of Phoenix. Phoenix didn't let go of him.

Gregory sat down against the wall beside the boys. Yanni did the same against the opposite wall. "So," Gregory offered, "We could use a way to pass the time. Any ideas?"

Phoenix had shifted slightly to try and rummage Firebrand out of his backpack, which was awkward because he was trying to do so one-handed and maintain a grip on Miles at the same time. Gregory reached over and lifted the bird free for him. Phoenix clutched it gratefully.

"Twenty Questions?" Yanni suggested wryly. "You play it often enough with the witnesses."

"They tend to force the issue," Gregory joked. "Miles, Phoenix? Do you want to play?"

"Yes," Miles said firmly. Phoenix nodded.

Twenty Questions did help pass the time, for a while. There was only so long a game could hold the attention of two nine-year-old boys though- and help still didn't seem to be coming. Gregory checked the emergency phone again as the two boys took a turn at Twenty Questions with Yanni.

"Is it.. is it animal, vegetable, or min- mineral?" Phoenix asked, enunciating the words carefully. He had never quite lost the stutter he'd arrived in the Edgeworth household with. Some nights, checking on them both, Gregory heard him in Miles' room just practicing speaking normally, and Miles would stop him periodically and have him repeat something until he could say it without stammering. It broke Gregory's heart to hear Phoenix trying so hard and made him even angrier with the boy's foster parents.

Gregory also checked the elevator's emergency exit on the ceiling, but it was jammed shut. He frowned at that and made a mental note to have maintenance check it out later.

Time slowed to a crawl. His watch said that they'd been waiting, in the dark cramped elevator, for longer than three hours. He was glad he'd yet to get either of the boys a watch. Time flowed considerably differently without one and the game had been keeping them occupied enough that they didn't realize just how long they'd all been trapped here.

Worse, Gregory realized as he glanced around the small space that Yogi was beginning to panic. That was bad. They'd remained calm this long, but admittedly, the elevator seemed smaller by the second. Miles and Phoenix, if anything, were taking up _less_ space than they originally had; they were scrunched so close together that Firebrand's tail was squashed between them and Phoenix had slowly slid to rest his head on Miles' shoulder. His eyes were closed, and with a sudden feeling of foreboding Gregory really,_really_ hoped Phoenix had merely fallen asleep.

As he watched Miles shake his friend- first very gently, because Phoenix still tended to jump at any unexpected physical contact, then more urgently- Gregory closed his eyes and reflected that of course it wouldn't be that simple.

"Phoenix?" Miles whispered, burying his head in his friend's shoulder a moment. "_Phoenix_?"

He looked up at his father, and the whites of his eyes were beginning to stand out, and before Gregory could reassure him that _fool_ Yogi blurted out, "We're running out of air, aren't we?"

Gregory glared at him as his son's eyes grew impossibly wider before Miles looked down at his friend once more. He shook Phoenix ineffectively again and bit his lip.

Gregory wasn't sure what caused Yogi to suddenly lose his composure like that, but he whirled on the other man. "There's no need to jump to conclusions. I'm sure help is on the way."

Yogi lunged at him. He dodged to the side, keeping himself between the bailiff and the boys, and glanced at where Yogi's gun had fallen to the floor. "Yanni, be _reasonable_, would you? It'll be fine. Miles and Phoenix take care of each other and we'll be out of here in no time, then they- and we- can go back to our lives. This will just be an interesting story to tell later," he persuaded.

When he glanced again, the gun was gone.

The last sounds he heard were the sound of a gunshot, echoingly loud in the small space, and a defiant cry of "Stay away from my dad!"

* * *

When Phoenix woke up he was in the hospital. He wasn't sure how much time had passed. He didn't know where he was, or where the only man he'd trusted to take care of him was, or where _Miles_ was, and no one told him anything. He tried to ask but for some reason his voice wouldn't cooperate. There were people in lab coats talking in hushed voices and it brought back things he didn't want to remember.

As soon as he was left alone, Phoenix got out of bed and made his way out of the room and down the hall, checking all the rooms until he found Miles. The other boy was asleep in a hospital bed in a private room and was small in the expanse of sheets. Phoenix climbed in next to him and curled up next to his friend, squeezing his eyes shut and huddling against him and wishing he had Firebrand with him.

The hospital tried to make them talk to a man they'd never seen before who dressed in suits all the time and smelled funny. He made Phoenix miss Roc. He explained to them both, slowly and carefully and as if they were four rather than nine, that Gregory was gone and he wasn't coming back. Phoenix didn't want to believe him. Miles _didn't_ believe him, and he told Phoenix so every night after the hospital had gone dark and quiet and terrifyingly familiar.

The man talked to the nurses about something called PTSD, and about aphonia, and oxygen deprivation, and neurogenic voice disorders, and the words washed over Phoenix and Miles and still no one told them much of anything. Except that Gregory was dead, and that, they didn't want to believe.

Phoenix saw Detective Xenia in the lobby one day and ran to greet her. She stooped down and enveloped him in a hug immediately, and he closed his eyes and held tight to her coat as she said softly, "I'm sorry, Phoenix. Roc and I have been trying to pull some strings but the state won't let us take you and Miles in. The law won't allow us to adopt you right now... I'm so, _so_ sorry, Nick."

He screwed his eyes shut tighter at the use of the nickname and wished he and Miles could leave with Xenia. He wanted to ask if she could at least get them out of the hospital for a little while, but he still couldn't get words when he tried to speak, so he wound up just gulping air.

Detective Xenia hugged him a little longer, then gently disentangled herself and stood up with one last pat on his head. "You cannot know how sorry I am," she murmured, and then she left.

Phoenix went to find Miles again.

While Phoenix had tentatively started to roam the hospital as time passed, and was indulged fairly often by kindly nurses and doctors who urged him away from anywhere he shouldn't be, Miles spent most of the time in their room staring at the window. The hospital staff had long since given up keeping them in separate rooms since Phoenix always found his way into Miles' room anyway.

He climbed up on the bed beside Miles and sat beside him, waiting for the hospital to go dark and silent again. It was almost late enough for the children's ward to be closed.

When it was dark Miles would talk to him. Phoenix waited patiently.

Sure enough, after the nurse came along and shut the door gently, Miles stirred and looked at him. He didn't say anything at first. He studied Phoenix for a long moment.

Then he finally broke the silence with, "The doctors say you can't ever talk now."

Phoenix made a quick _what do they know_ gesture with his hands. Miles didn't look away from him but he wrapped his arms around himself and said quietly, "They said you got really hurt when we were..when we were running out of air. They said your brain got hurt, somehow, 'cause of it, and now you can't talk."_ Now_ he looked away and Phoenix reached out and grabbed his arm to make him look at him again.

He shook his head and gave Miles a look that said, challengingly,_So what if I can't?_

"I'm sorry," Miles mumbled. It wasn't clear if he meant it to be an apology to Phoenix or an apology in a broader sense.

_You understand me_,said the look Phoenix gave him. It was true that they'd always been good at communicating between themselves without words. _That's enough._

And for a while, it was.

The hospital didn't release them because there was no one to release them to. Miles didn't know how long they'd been there anymore- months, he thought. It felt like years.

Then one day he was told they were being taken away from the hospital. He didn't know how he felt about this. If he left the hospital, then everything that had happened was more real, and his father really wasn't coming back. He wanted to leave but he wanted to leave with his dad and Phoenix. He thought he could have been okay with leaving with Detective Xenia though.

It was Prosecutor von Karma who'd come to get him. It was Prosecutor von Karma who was taking him away to Germany, who explained in hard-sounding tones that his father was dead and his father's killer was free due to a defense attorney. Worse, it was Prosecutor von Karma who had come for _only_ him, and Miles was adamant in his refusal to leave without Phoenix.

von Karma didn't want to take Phoenix with him, only Miles, but Miles' refusal prompted him to obtain Phoenix's medical records and something he saw there made him agree to take both boys. They had enough time to gather anything they _really_ wanted to take with them- Detective Xenia came to see them off along with Roc, and the two women brought Firebrand with them. Phoenix held onto it gratefully as they left the hospital at last.

Only a few days later they were in Germany for the first time.

"I only prepared one room," Prosecutor von Karma said stiffly, showing them into the huge house and to their new room. "I did not expect to require more than that." His voice was nothing like Gregory's. It was cold and calculating and precise, as though he did not want to waste a single word.

"We can share," Miles said quietly. Beside him, Phoenix nodded.

"We can share, _sir,_" Prosecutor von Karma corrected him.

"...Sir," he repeated, even quieter than before. Manfred von Karma seemed satisfied with that and not at all concerned that Phoenix did not address him. Of course, he'd seen his medical files, he would know that Phoenix couldn't talk.

"Dinner is at seven, in two hours. You will take that time to settle in and then I will introduce you to my daughters and your place in this family will be explained." Manfred said this in a tone that brooked no argument. Miles nodded slowly and Phoenix tried to melt into the wall at Manfred's tone, trying not to tremble.

Manfred left them then, closing the bedroom door behind himself. Miles' eyes widened slightly when he heard a bolt shoot home. Checking the door confirmed that the prosecutor had, in fact, locked them in. He hoped Phoenix hadn't noticed.

When he turned around he saw Phoenix was inspecting the room. There was only one bed, of course, but they were used to that with as often as Phoenix snuck into his bed anyway. There was only one bed, and there was a small nightstand-cum-bookshelf next to it with a very plain lamp on it beside the bed, and an elaborate-looking wooden desk against one wall with an equally elaborate chair beside it. That was all in the way of actual furniture, although there was also a large rug on the hardwood floor and a landscape painting above the bed. There was an extra comforter on the floor, too, but Miles saw no reason they couldn't both sleep on the bed. Both the bed and the room, while small for the house, were huge compared to what he was used to.

Phoenix set Firebrand gently on the bed. Miles had seen Manfred looking at it with disdain, and he told Phoenix softly as they sat on the bed together, "You shouldn't carry him with you here. He might... Something might happen to him."

Phoenix nodded and they sat in silence until a servant came to unlock the door and lead them down to dinner.

Dinner itself was lengthy, silent, and strained. Manfred sat at the head of the table, of course, and Miles and Phoenix sat along one side while two girls who had to be the daughters he had mentioned before sat on the other side. There was no speech unless it was to ask that a dish be passed. Miles didn't recognise most of the dishes, and he was sure Phoenix didn't either, but he didn't want to incur Manfred's wrath by asking so he stayed silent.

When they had finished and the plates were cleared away, Manfred cleared his throat and became the immediate focus of attention of everyone at the table. "Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright. These girls here are my daughters, Franziska von Karma and Hildred von Karma. You will show them respect at all times." He transferred his gaze to his daughters. The younger, Franziska, was very young indeed and Miles wondered at the hard tone her father used with her despite her age. "Franziska. Hildred. Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright will be staying with us now, as Herr Edgeworth has passed on."

Miles flinched, almost imperceptibly, but he saw Hildred's gaze sharpen on him all the same. Manfred continued. "Since _you_, Hildred, have proven to be a disgrace to the name von Karma and the position of prosecutor, young Miles will have to take your place as my protegé. He, and Franziska, will carry on the name where you have failed." He didn't say anything about Phoenix, and Miles didn't know how to ask. Hildred saved him the trouble by asking for him.

"And the other boy?" She asked. Her voice was full of cool disdain as well, but it managed to sound more human than her father. "Phoenix Wright? What..._plans_ do you have for him?"

It was not _quite_ a sneer, and Manfred narrowed his eyes at her before replying dismissively, "He is a mute. Useless as a prosecutor. However, I suspect he can still be trained as a legal aide, and that is what will have to be done with him."

Phoenix looked up sharply but clenched his jaw shut. He had stopped trying to talk while they were still in the hospital, unless it was late and Miles wanted him to try, because he knew it wouldn't work.

Miles swallowed hard and said very faintly, eyes glued to the tablecloth, "But I wanted to be a defense attorney. Like... like my dad."

The elder von Karma daughter's glare grew sharper at this.

"That is a foolish profession," Manfred von Karma snapped, glaring angrily not at Miles but at Phoenix as if this were somehow his fault. Phoenix shrank in his seat. "Or have you _forgotten_, boy? It was a defense attorney without morals who let your father's killer go free."

Miles flinched and didn't protest any more. Nothing more was said on the subject.

It was hard to adjust to living in the von Karma household when it was so vastly different from the Edgeworth household. Manfred ran everything on a strict schedule and demanded that Miles address him as Sir. (Gregory had told Phoenix to call him by his first name, or Dad if he felt comfortable enough with it, after only two days.) He insisted that everyone in the house be awake by five and downstairs and dressed for breakfast at six. Between breakfast and lunch there were a series of tutors for Miles and Franziska while Manfred left for work. Phoenix sat with them during tutoring, but the tutors, much like Manfred himself, ignored him. Lunch was small and at precisely noon every day. Then there were more tutors until three, and from three until seven Miles and Franziska were expected to study on their own. The bookcase in Miles and Phoenix's room had been filled with books on law almost immediately. Dinner was at seven and after dinner Manfred would quiz them on legal matters. Getting a question right was expected and carried with it no form of praise.

Getting a question _wrong_ meant something different for each of them. Franziska he would slap- gently, hard enough to sting but not hard enough to leave a mark, but it was a slap all the same. Miles he never laid a hand on. If Miles answered a question wrong, Manfred hit Phoenix, and he hit him considerably harder than he did Franziska. He insisted that it was nothing more than a slap on the wrist and that Phoenix could handle it at his age.

Miles tried very hard not to get any questions wrong.

Years passed, and very little changed. von Karma continued with his strict schedule. Bedroom doors were still locked after nine in the evening and not unlocked until four-thirty the next morning. There were no summer vacations because they didn't attend any conventional school. There were no vacations, period. Hildred moved out as soon as she was legally and financially able and it became rare to hear from her after that.

When Franziska was six she learned to pick locks from Phoenix, who had figured it out a few years earlier. After that she often snuck into the boy's room at night so that they could study together. Phoenix wasn't quizzed the way the other two were and wasn't expected to ever be anything more than Miles' legal aid, but he studied as hard as they did anyway. He was determined to be the best help to them that he could. Manfred continued to ignore him completely unless he was punishing Miles.

There was something horribly wrong with that, and Miles knew it, but he couldn't do anything about it. If he brought it up with Prosecutor von Karma that would mean he was talking back and that in turn would mean Phoenix would get hurt. He couldn't let that happen. He and Phoenix were supposed to look after each other. His dad had said so.

When they were fourteen Manfred discovered them still sharing a bed. He was furious. After a lengthy and furious diatribe delivered in a calm voice that was somehow worse than yelling, it was determined that Phoenix would sleep on the floor from now on. Manfred or a servant came in to check several times a night and make _sure_ Phoenix slept on the floor. This had the effect of cutting everyone's studying time since Franziska could hardly be caught going over law books late at night with her 'little brothers.' (Miles was unsure where she had picked up this notion, but didn't have the heart to dissuade her from it.)

Even holidays were strictly structured. Christmas morning they were expected to be assembled and in front of the tree at exactly six-thirty a.m. (it was the one morning a year sleeping in was allowed). Franziska and Miles each received one gift- it was never anything but another textbook on law and they could expect to be quizzed on it that evening. Phoenix only received a gift twice. Their first Christmas there, Manfred gave him a black leather choker. It made Miles uncomfortable to see Phoenix wear it. Not wearing it made Manfred angry though, and Manfred's anger was worse than Miles' unhappiness, so he wore it.

The only other time Phoenix got a gift was when they were fifteen, a year after Manfred had demanded Phoenix sleep on the floor. Hildred came to visit and gave him a book on American Sign Language when Manfred wasn't looking. The boys hid it at the back of their bookshelf and Phoenix and Miles practiced signing every night after the doors were locked. By that time it was much less common for anyone to burst in on them, and the servants never reported anything anymore anyway.

At eighteen, Manfred brought them both back to Los Angeles where they shared an apartment for two years while Miles attended lectures at the university and studied for his bar exam. Franziska stayed with them the first week they were there while Manfred returned to Germany. It was the first time in years any of the three of them had the freedom to do as they wished, and they responded predictably to this, staying up at all hours of the night and indulging in straying off a strict schedule.

After only two days of this frivolity, however, Franziska threw down her whip in disgust one night at dinner and said flatly, "This is foolish. We should be studying."

"We study every night, Franziska," Miles said, staring at his dinner. German dishes had become much more appealing since they'd realised none of the three of them knew how to cook. Microwavable macaroni looked less appealing by the second. "We _always_ study every night. One short break... It won't hurt anything." Phoenix nodded tiredly.

Despite this assertion, guilt drove the three back to their books in the early hours of the morning. The sun rose to find them all very much awake and sprawled across the floor of the living room with books and papers and case files spread all around them.

Franziska was reluctant to leave at the end of the week and they spent an inordinate amount of time in the Departure Lounge of the airport as a result. "I will come back," she said at last. "I will come back, and I will prove that I am just as good at law as you are, Miles Edgeworth."

"I'm sure you will," Miles said after a long moment, and then there didn't seem to be anything else to say.

A month later Firebrand arrived in the post. Franziska had successfully smuggled the much-loved and battered bird to them, along with Phoenix's book on sign language.

The years before the bar exam passed even quicker than the ones in the von Karma house. Miles continued to study every night, as did Phoenix, and Phoenix made a point of learning how to cook so that they weren't dependent on take-out. It was a blessing to study law alone and undisturbed in the States, where there was no imminent danger in breaking to practice signing to each other again, but habits were hard to break and life fell into a strict schedule once again.

Franziska passed the bar exam at the same time they did despite the age gap. Miles suspected her of grimly pushing herself to pass it just to prove she could surpass her little brother- both her little brothers, really, since Phoenix insisted on taking it as well. He couldn't actually prosecute, and Manfred had drilled it into his head over the years that he was to be Miles' legal aide and that was absolutely the _end_ of the matter, but nonetheless he passed the exam out of a burning desire to prove that he _could._

One day Miles came to collect Phoenix from the courthouse library after having studied the court proceedings in a current case extensively and found his friend wearing a new necklace over his choker and beaming. _I met a girl_, he signed, and Miles tried very hard to ignore the sudden sensation of his heart splitting in his chest.

He was happy for Phoenix. As trite as it sounded, he truly was. Manfred had at least paid attention to Franziska and himself- Wright had only_had_ Franziska and himself for these many long years. It was extremely disconcerting, though, to see Phoenix so eagerly tripping over his own feet for someone.

_Someone other than you_,whispered a sneaky voice deep in his subconscious, and Miles tried hard to ignore it. He had done nothing but try and protect Phoenix since they were children. It was only natural for him to worry over his friend. He was acutely aware that Phoenix was unhealthily dependent on him and he suspected von Karma's treatment of him over the years had been designed to foster that dependence. He still didn't know how he could possibly have fought Manfred's manipulations, though.

He did not trust this Dahlia Hawthorne at all.

Phoenix signed to him eagerly when they were home at night, and sometimes even when they were in the office during the day, about just how wonderful she was- _She's gorgeous, she's sweet, she made me this sweater, she can even_ cook _Miles_- and he did his best to ignore the surge of unease he felt and listen to his friend go on about his newfound girlfriend.

What he saw and what Phoenix told him did not seem to match up. To him, Dahlia- who he would _not_ call Dollie, no matter how much Phoenix wheedled him, and he was rather glad the girl did not know sign language and so did not know of this embarrassing nickname- was demanding, rude, and entirely too willing to step on Phoenix's feelings in favour of her own.

Dahlia came over for dinner at least once a week. Despite how excited Phoenix had been about her ability to cook, said ability having become a marvel for him and Miles since moving back to the States, it was always Phoenix who cooked on those nights. One evening, as Miles sat in the living room making small talk with her while Phoenix made a distressing amount of noise in the kitchen (they didn't own a television), Dahlia cut him off in the middle of a sentence. Smiling that small smile that had always disturbed him in a way he couldn't place, she murmured huskily, "Feenie is so eager to please, isn't he? He would be so very attractive with a leash to clip to that collar of his. I'm thinking of getting him one myself."

Miles kicked her out.

He told Phoenix something unexpected had come up and she had had to leave. He could see in his friend's eyes that Phoenix didn't believe him, but Phoenix merely looked disappointed before setting down dinner and didn't ask.

Miles wished he had asked.

Later, when Phoenix was arrested on suspicion of murder and Dahlia was all smiles and sympathy, he wished he'd been wrong.

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**Guardian: **Reviews make me a happy author, and happy authors write more! There's plenty more of this to come. 


	2. Two

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine. I realise I've been gone forever and a day, but real life decided to get really interesting. Car accidents and internship and sudden allergies resulting in various trips to the emergency room, oh my. I am still mad busy but I'm trying to snatch some time to write here and there.

* * *

**Without Wings**

**II.

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**

Manfred von Karma called to order him to prosecute the case. For the first time since he was nine years old, Miles refused.

That would have been enough to anger Manfred beyond all reason, he reflected gloomily, but now he was sequestered in an office across town from his own with Phoenix's defense team helping to build their case.

"So you've known Phoenix since you two were how old?" Mia Fey asked him, genuinely curious. Miles didn't look up from the files he was perusing with Diego Armando as he replied quietly.

"Since we were nine." He flipped through a file with unnecessary force as he added grimly, "And he would _never_ commit murder. I suspect Miss Hawthorne is responsible herself."

He didn't see the looks Mia and Diego exchanged over his head, but he jumped predictably when they eased themselves down on the couch on either side of him.

"We believe you," Mia began seriously as Miles looked up in alarm. "Dahlia Hawthorne is a killer, I don't doubt that. But we need to prove it in this trial."

"Hell, the bitch tried to kill _me_," Diego growled with more humour than Miles thought the situation warranted. "Luckily for the kitten here I know when my coffee smells off and she's not out a partner yet."

"_Please_ stop adding 'yet,'" Mia murmured. Miles found himself agreeing with her.

Miles pressed his fingers to his temple in frustration. "Phoenix can't testify for himself. I'm too closely related to the case to be considered a reliable translator. I don't know if that's a negative or a positive impact on the case. He is completely smitten with Hawthorne and probably still does not believe she would have committed murder," he admitted painfully. Again he missed the look Diego and Mia exchanged. Diego smirked, because it was clear to everyone in the room but Miles himself how deeply he cared for this friend.

"I know American sign language," Mia said, and both men turned to stare at her in astonishment.

She shrugged. "It seemed like an interesting thing to learn at the time. I thought it might come in helpful one day."

Diego shook his head, while Miles stared at her with the dawning realization that _this_ was the kind of defense attorney his father had been. It was hard to reconcile that fact now with the vitriol Manfred von Karma had spewed about defense attorneys over the years.

When the day of the trial came Miles watched anxiously from the gallery just behind Diego and Mia. Prosecutor Payne presented evidence declaring Phoenix guilty- and Miles watched as Mia Fey and Diego Armando tore his case to shreds. Phoenix did get up on the witness stand as Miles had half-expected and half-feared and sign frantically that _his Dollie was innocent, she would never do this,_ and Mia did translate accurately for the court. His testimony did not change the outcome of the trial, though- Dahlia Hawthorne was at last declared guilty.

Miles waited anxiously for Diego and Mia after the trial, and when they emerged with Phoenix, snapped urgently, "Hospital, _now!_"

Phoenix did not resist as Miles dragged him to the car and drove him to the hospital. It was only when he was pacing the lobby and waiting for a report that he realized Miss Fey and Mr. Armando had followed him there. They sat in chairs in the reception area, watching him pace, until at last he sat down beside them and clasped his hands tightly on his knees.

"The bottle was empty," Mia said reassuringly. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Yes," Miles said shortly, staring at the carpet without seeing it. "Of course."

"Hey, buck up, kitten," Diego said, leaning down to look at him. "The trial's over. Your friend is innocent and the hospital will have him fixed right up in no time."

"Yes," Miles said again, and sighed. When it became clear that it would be some while yet before he could go and see Phoenix for himself, and that the defense team was not about to leave any time soon, he said abruptly, "There are going to be repercussions for this." He frowned. "I... may not have a job any longer." His voice became quieter as he said, "I do not know how we will afford rent."

Mia had another of those wordless conversations with Diego, unnoticed by Miles yet again. She turned to the prosecutor. "Phoenix is your legal aide, right? But he passed the bar exam."

He nodded without looking up from his clasped hands.

He jumped when Diego clapped a large hand on his shoulder and said, "Come work for us, then. We've been wanting to split off and start our own law offices. It would be the richest black irony to have you two as defense attorneys in our office, wouldn't it?" He laughed. Miles didn't see what was so funny.

"I am a _prosecutor_," he said, speaking slowly and enunciating carefully.

Diego opened his mouth to say something and Mia waved him off. "But you don't have to be," she said soothingly. "Just think about the idea, would you? You and Phoenix both. We'd be happy to have you. You don't have to answer until you want to."

A nurse came in and interrupted them saying they could go in and see Phoenix now, which was good as Miles was still trying to determine what to say to this offer.

Phoenix was going to be fine. Miles had known this, intellectually, but hearing it made him sag with relief all the same. He talked to the doctor outside of the room and explained Phoenix's hatred of hospitals and the doctor agreed to release him that night, with a stern warning for bed rest.

Miles could see Diego's car pull out and follow them from the hospital parking lot in his rear view. He decided he was too exhausted and emotionally drained to care. Phoenix didn't notice.

He made it up the six floors to their apartment, supporting Phoenix most of the way, and then stared wearily at the notice on the door. The _eviction_ notice on the door.

"Manfred works fast," he said dully and Phoenix nodded as he slumped against him. Miles turned so that they could make their slow way back down six flights of stairs and saw that Diego was leaning against the hood of his car, smoking a cigarette and waving lazily at them. He sighed.

"Need a place to stay, kittens?" Diego called up to them as they reached the second story landing. The building did have an elevator but neither he nor Phoenix had ever used it.

Miles glared at the defense attorney. The infuriating man only chuckled in return. Phoenix managed a weak smile when Mia got out of the car to smack her partner.

"Come stay with us," Mia said kindly when they made it back to the ground. "Our apartment's not that large, to be honest, but I'm sure we can spare the room. And you can think about our offer."

Phoenix's gaze sharpened at that and Miles made an _I'll explain later_ gesture with his free hand. Mia watched curiously, but this was their private sign language developed in the early years in the von Karma household and she had no way of knowing what the gesture meant. _You had me worried_, Miles added, and Phoenix looked away from him with a frown.

_Sorry_, Phoenix motioned when they were in the car following the other two across town. Miles shook his head without taking his eyes off the road. He followed Phoenix's signing in the rear view mirror.

"It's not your fault. He wanted me to prosecute the case and I refused." He watched Phoenix's reaction out of the corner of his eyes. Phoenix looked shocked, then thoughtful, then sad.

_My fault,_ he signed unhappily. _Apartment. Office. Jobs. My fault._

His sentences always became short and choppy when he was upset. "_Hawthorne's_ fault," Miles corrected sharply, and almost regretted it when Phoenix flinched slightly at the name of his ex-girlfriend. "It is in no way your fault. You have done nothing wrong."

_Apartment. Jobs. Lost_, Phoenix signed stubbornly, and before Miles could reprimand him again, added, _I trusted her_.

He had the sudden burning desire to explain to Phoenix exactly why he had kicked Dahlia Hawthorne out of their home many months ago. The sorrow in Phoenix's eyes kept him from it. He didn't need to add to that hurt.

"We'll figure something out," he said instead, and realized suddenly that he needed to find a way back into their apartment to retrieve Firebrand. Everything else could eventually be replaced. He longed to have the stuffed bird, which had been a constant source of comfort over many long years, with them now.

After Diego let them into the apartment and left to brew himself coffee, Mia asked gently, "Is there anything you want from your old place? Let me know and I can send Diego out for it later. He'll get it here, and the less I tell you the less trouble we can get into," she added to forestall any questions.

Hesitantly, because it was, after all, rather embarrassing, Miles said, "A stuffed phoenix. He- it's in the bedroom, on the bed. And a book on American sign language, if you can get it, but mostly the phoenix. Everything else..." He sighed. "The law books would be nice to have, but they're replaceable. That phoenix ... is not."

Mia nodded and was kind enough not to ask.

"We don't have a guest bedroom," she said apologetically, "But the couch is a pull-out sofa."

Miles bowed his head. "That is more than adequate. Thank you," he whispered, and Phoenix signed his thanks as well. He smiled tentatively when Mia signed _You're welcome_ back. It had never occurred to Miles before what it would be like for Phoenix to have someone to sign to besides himself. True, Franziska knew a few scattered words and phrases, but she had not devoted much of her time to anything but the study of law.

She supplied them with pillows and sheets and a huge quilt, much loved and with some interesting stains on it, and left them alone. Phoenix coiled the blankets and knelt on the floor, ready to sleep there, but Miles shook his head and pulled his friend back up.

"We're not doing that anymore," he said, and swallowed hard when Phoenix tilted his head inquiringly at him and light glinted off the black leather choker.

_He would be so very attractive with a leash to clip to that collar of his, _Dahlia Hawthorne's voice echoed in his head, and Miles hissed sharply.

_What is it? _Phoenix asked, genuinely concerned.

"You're not sleeping on the floor anymore," Miles grit out past the laughing spectre in his mind. "There was never any reason for it, and there's no one to make you sleep anywhere but a bed now."

Phoenix nodded slowly, but he was clearly confused by this, and Miles' heart clenched painfully as he realised for the first time that Phoenix had seen nothing out of the ordinary about sleeping on the floor for all these years. All these _years_... He hissed again, and shook his head sharply when Phoenix glanced at him in concern and curiosity.

It was hard to get to sleep on the sofa. Phoenix tossed and turned all night, unused to sleeping on something so yielding to his weight, and Miles stared blankly at the ceiling. Every time he began to fall asleep he woke from the same nightmare that had haunted his sleep since he was nine- the same nightmare he had told no one, not even Phoenix.

Sometime in the early hours of the morning he finally fell asleep. Phoenix had finally found sleep some time before him, finding a comfortable position curled up along Miles' side and wrapped partway around his arm.

"Cute," Diego said approvingly when he cast his glance over their current charges the next morning. True to their word, he and Mia had just returned from liberating the two young lawyer's possessions from their old apartment. Law books littered the room and Diego slid the book on sign language onto the bookshelf as Mia placed the stuffed phoenix gently on the bed beside the sleeping men.

"Adorable," Mia agreed, and then frowned. "And unhealthy. Diego, doesn't this relationship seem very, well, _odd_ to you?"

Her lover wrapped his arms around her from behind and she felt him shrug. "Puppy love, kitten. Different needs for different breeds." He nuzzled into her neck lightly before adding, "Besides, you heard how distraught the pretty one in the pink suit was in the office. They've grown up together, and I looked back through some old court cases- they've been through quite a lot of trauma together. Enough to make even a lion and a lamb become fast friends, I would think."

Mia sighed and covered his hand with her own. "I still think it's more than that. I don't think it's anything they've _done_, necessarily, I think it's... something that was done _to_ them. Phoenix more than Miles, but to both of them in the end." She moaned and closed her eyes as Diego found a stress knot at the base of her neck and began to rub it gently. "I'm not making sense, am I?"

"You are," Diego assured her. "They may not know it yet," he added in a husky whisper, "But they have _you_ looking after them now, kitten. They couldn't be in better hands."

She chuckled lightly, although they kept their voices low to avoid waking their two sleeping boarders. She wondered momentarily how they were going to _afford_ this but brushed it off. They'd always managed before. They'd manage now.

She leaned forward and looked at the stuffed phoenix again, careful to maintain contact with Diego. _Firebrand _was written on the toy's tag in loopy, childish handwriting. One wing looked as though it had once been ripped off and then clumsily sewn back on. "There's a story behind you," she said to it, picking it up again. She twisted in Diego's arms and looked up at him, eyes flashing with determination. He caught his breath. "I'm going to fix this."

It was Diego's turn to chuckle as he backed off. "Fine, fine. I know better than to get in the way of your motherly instincts," he teased as he followed her out of the room. In their bedroom, she rummaged through a drawer before coming up with a sewing kit. "And, oh, kitten- you still haven't explained your impressive talent at lock-picking to me."

"Childhood pastime in Kurain," Mia dismissed with a shrug. "My little sis is even better at it." She became thoughtful after saying this. "Maybe I should call her. She has a talent for getting people to open up to her."

Diego raised an incredulous eyebrow at this suggestion. "Just how much room do you think this apartment _has_, Mia?"

"Enough," she replied firmly as she began picking out stitches and inserting new ones. "It will always be enough."

Diego knew better than to argue with her.  
As it turned out, there was no reason to call Maya and ask her to make the trip for Kurain. There was no need- because after a mere two days, most of which Phoenix and Miles spent in exhausted sleep, Franziska von Karma arrived on their doorstep.

Diego rubbed sleep from his eyes and stared at the whip-wielding young girl taking up the doorway at an unholy hour of the morning, dressed in outlandish clothing. Granted, Miles did dress rather oddly, and while Phoenix dressed more conservatively it was still nothing Diego himself would ever have worn in public, but this was ridiculous. The girl looked as though she'd walked straight out of the sixteenth century.

"Can I _help_ you?" he asked at last, wondering vaguely if perhaps he was still asleep.

"Where are my brothers?" she demanded.

He glanced back into the living room and saw Miles stir and raise his head at the sound of her voice, dislodging Phoenix slightly. "Franziska?" came a groggy voice, and the young von Karma shoved past Diego and into the apartment.

Diego shrugged, locked the door again, and went back to his room and to sleep. It would be his problem in four hours when normal people got up for the day.

Miles sat up, startled, when Franziska advanced on him holding her whip threateningly. Phoenix shifted slightly and mouthed something and Miles wrapped an arm around him protectively. "Franziska?" Miles repeated, confused, eyebrows knitting together. "What are you _doing_ here?"

"That is what I have come to ask you," the young prosecutor snarled. Miles' arm tightened around Phoenix. "What, precisely, has happened, little brother? Three days ago, Father informed me that you and Phoenix Wright were no longer part of the family and that I was not to attempt to contact you." She sat on the pull-out bed as Miles shifted to make room. Phoenix curled up close against him and whimpered soundlessly. Franziska's gaze dropped to him and she looked concerned for an instant before masking the emotion. "I went to your apartment to find you did not live there anymore. I went to your office to find you did not _work_ there anymore." She narrowed her eyes at him. "So tell me, Miles Edgeworth, and tell me now. _What. Happened._"

He looked away. When he spoke, his words were short and clipped. "Phoenix was arrested on suspicion of murder. Manfred wanted me to prosecute the case. I refused."

Franziska's eyes hardened. One hand clenched convulsively around the handle of her whip, while the other hand found its way to the stuffed phoenix sitting on the bed. She had spent many nights curled around Firebrand with Phoenix while they all watched the text in legal books blur before their eyes. He was a comfort to her as well as to them. "He didn't," she whispered, horrified. "Tell me he didn't."

"Phoenix didn't kill anyone," Miles returned harshly. "And Manfred did ask me to find him guilty." His jaw tightened. "And I refused, and he was found innocent, and after the verdict was handed down we did not have a home or job."

Franziska twisted her whip tightly in her grasp and did not reply. Miles remembered that whip. Hildred had snuck it to her as a gift the same Christmas she had given Phoenix the sign language book. If Manfred had ever suspected where it had come from, he did not show it.

"This is foolish," she said at last, her voice a strained whisper. "This is utterly foolish foolishness from an utterly foolish fool."

Phoenix stirred again, and then his eyes blinked open slowly. He stared at Franziska, closed his eyes and opened them again, and then signed something swiftly to Miles. Franziska watched his hands but grit her teeth in frustration at her inability to know what he said.

"She came when she heard about the trial," Miles told him, lifting a challenging gaze to Franziska when he added an inflection that certainly had not been there originally. She did not correct him. In fact, if he had believed it possible, he would have said her gaze actually softened when she looked at Phoenix.

_Thanks,_ Phoenix signed, and Miles translated. The three looked at each other in silence for a long moment.

This was interrupted by Diego stumbling back out of his and Mia's room, yawning loudly. He paused on his way to the kitchen to survey the scene in the living room. "So that _wasn't_ a dream," he commented and continued to the kitchen and his beloved coffeemaker, tossing back over his shoulder, "Mia! There's another kitten here for you to see to!"

"That is quite all right," Franziska began stiffly, but stopped herself when she realized she was talking to someone who had already sauntered from the room.

Mia emerged next, sleep-dishevelled and stretching, dressed in pyjamas. Her eyes widened only slightly when she saw Franziska before she composed herself. "More company, I see. I'm beginning to think I should open a Bed and Breakfast instead of a law firm."

The younger girl was clearly at a loss for how to reply to this.

"Make yourself at home," Mia continued. "Your brothers already have, we don't mind, really- I assume you _are_ Franziska von Karma, correct?"

Numbly, Franziska nodded.

"It was good of you to come see your brothers after what happened. Want anything? Coffee, tea?" she offered. "Diego and I prefer coffee, but I've been making tea for Miles and Phoenix. I grew up drinking it and it's nice to have it in the house again."

"Tea," Franziska said at last, surprised. "Any kind will do, for now."

While she had come intending to stay for only a few days, and intending to spend them in a hotel at that, Franziska von Karma found herself quickly roped into the growing makeshift family. Now that they were thoroughly out of room for anyone to sleep Diego found an inflatable mattress from somewhere. Franziska almost refused to sleep on it, seeing no reason why Phoenix should not do so instead, but subtle glaring from Miles induced her to give up this idea.

On the positive side Franziska brought with her a salary. She set herself up quickly in her brother's old office and brought her reputation as a prodigal prosecutor to bear, receiving cases almost immediately. She was risking being cut off just as Phoenix and Miles had- she was practically flaunting her disobedience by practicing law in Los Angeles, precisely where she had been forbidden to go- but something, possibly the fact that she was now the last to carry the name von Karma, prevented her father's retribution.

"It has _something_ to do with Manfred von Karma," Mia told Diego one evening as they painted the walls of their new law office- leased with the proceeds from Phoenix's trial and with Mr. Grossberg's blessing. Mia reflected wryly that the poor man was probably thrilled not to share an office wall with them any longer. She was sure it couldn't have been good for his haemorrhoids.

"That would make sense," Diego agreed absently as he looked between a can of cream and a can of ecru and wondered what on earth the difference was. Did Mia just see more colours than he did? He would admit that as a possibility. He was fairly certain there had been some research somewhere about women seeing more colours than men. "From what I've pieced together-" He glanced at Mia as he said this, because she had been determinedly researching their new roommates while he had been doing the same. "- They _were_ raised by the man. Franziska, too. And that's _odd_, kitten, because it seems like Gregory Edgeworth and Manfred von Karma were more than your typical courtroom rivals. Seems von Karma had something of a personal vendetta against Edgeworth. It doesn't make sense for him to raise his son, and Phoenix was something of an adopted son to Edgeworth- Gregory Edgeworth took care of him after he was removed from 'inadequate foster care,' which isn't detailed in the records I've found, but it's easy enough to make a guess." He frowned into the paint cans. "It doesn't make _sense._"

"Actually, I think it just might," Mia murmured darkly. Diego waited patiently for her to elaborate.

Mia raised her gaze and set down the paintbrush. "If your most hated rival was dead, and his son and charge were left without any parent or guardian... If, perhaps, you felt you had never truly gotten revenge, and the children your rival valued more than anything were left completely unguarded and there was nothing to stop you taking them..."

Diego's frown deepened and his face darkened. "You think von Karma raised them in revenge. That he intentionally twisted them away from what Gregory Edgeworth would have wanted from them."

"I think he psychologically tortured those two boys," Mia said flatly, crossing the office to sit at the desk, a lone piece of furniture in the nearly empty room. "And I'll bet they've never even realized it. If you think about it- two nine year old boys, newly bereft of any kind of father figure. I got access to Phoenix's medical files during the trial- it was after the incident resulting in Gregory Edgeworth's death that Phoenix lost the ability to talk, and his dependency on Miles stretches back to even before that." She spread her hands wide in a gesture of helplessness. "If you look at it from Manfred von Karma's point of view...it all begins to make a horrible kind of sense."

"It does," Diego groaned, sitting down on top of the desk. "Oh, gods, it _does. _He would have made Phoenix's dependence worse, steered Miles into a path his father wouldn't have approved of..." He shook his head in despair, grimaced, and looked up at Mia. "You _are_ planning on looking after them, then."

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Diego. Nurturing instinct. Can't help it."

He laughed. "Kitten, don't ever change." He grew serious and leaned in closer. "It's going to be hard, though, you know. They're grown men. They're not children. They're not stupid, and they're not going to talk about anything they're not ready to talk about, and I don't know if this is something they'll ever be ready to talk about." He passed one hand over his eyes. "Miles realizes, I think. He sees what Manfred von Karma has done to his friend, if not to him himself. Phoenix..." He sighed. "Phoenix clearly sees nothing wrong. The way he acts... that choker, the way he clings to Miles, and I don't know if you noticed when we were raiding their apartment, kitten, but one of them was sleeping on the floor. I'd bet this office here it wasn't Miles."

"Phoenix does anything Miles asks him to," Mia said thoughtfully, spinning in the desk chair slightly.

"And that's the _problem_," Diego countered immediately. "Kitten, they're both _grown men_. They need to learn how to _act_ like it." He fell silent again.

After a long moment Mia broke the silence with, "Well, at least we can offer those two jobs again. If we ever finish painting the office."

"We could have _them_ paint the office," Diego suggested hopefully, and ducked when his lover swatted at him.

Back in the apartment Phoenix was sitting on the bed running his hands over Firebrand's wing while Miles made lunch. He could hear him in the kitchen, searching for silverware and cursing quietly, and Phoenix frowned. He'd always cooked for them before. Ever since the trial, Miles had stopped him from making any meals. He'd stopped him from sleeping on the floor, too, and Phoenix was still unsure what had caused this sudden change. He didn't think he'd done anything to make Miles mad.

Someone had fixed his clumsy fourteen-year-old attempt at sewing. He ran his thumb over the stitches. He remembered when the wing had been torn- it was the same night Manfred had realised he was still sharing a bed with Miles. His hand stilled. He was sharing a bed with Miles now. That... was wrong. Wasn't it? He didn't remember _why_ it was wrong, exactly, but he did remember that it was wrong and that he shouldn't do it. He was supposed to sleep on the floor. When he didn't, Firebrand lost a wing. When he still didn't, he lost the use of an arm for a long time because Manfred had hurt it the same way it had been hurt when he was nine, and Manfred didn't believe in hospitals. It was not acceptable for him to share a bed with Miles, and it was not acceptable for Miles to join him on the floor, either. Miles joining him meant that his only meals for a week and a half were whatever Miles and Franziska could sneak to him, and even though they'd become adept at sneaking food away during past punishments it had never been very much.

Miles could have cried in frustration when he carried lunch back into the living room and found Phoenix asleep on the floor.

One morning Mia and Diego left earlier than usual, careful not to wake the others. Franziska was awake already, or maybe hadn't slept, as she was sitting at the kitchen table going over evidence for a case, and Mia quietly invited her to come with them on an errand but the other woman- the young girl, really, though she certainly did not act it- politely declined.

Roughly two hours later she looked up from her case files at the sound of a key in a door, muffled giggles, and an unexpected whining sound. The front door being perfectly visible from her seat in the kitchen, Franziska did not move as the door swung softly open and Mia entered- with her arms full of a tiny wriggling puppy. Franziska's eyes widened ever so slightly.

Diego shut the door and Mia knelt to let the puppy go. "Go on, go surprise them all," the attorney whispered to the tiny ball of fur and energy. The puppy seemed eager enough to comply and raced away from her, stopped and cocked its head in the middle of the room- and then made a beeline for the pull-out bed, which Miles had finally persuaded Phoenix back onto after a long argument in their private form of sign language the night before.

"What...?" Miles sounded very confused. He sat up, leaning on one elbow, just as Phoenix opened his eyes. They both froze and stared at the dog happily making itself at home, turning in circles on the bed in the scant space between them before settling down with a full-body sigh.

"His name is Pesu," Mia said from where she was leaning against the door, amused. "He's a Pomeranian. I always wanted a dog," she added wistfully.

"Oh," Miles said faintly. Tentatively, Phoenix reached out and patted Pesu, and began to smile when the dog turned to him and licked his hand and wagged his tail.

She would never have admitted it... but Franziska had always wished for a pet. A cat seemed more her kind of animal, really, but nearly the first thing her older sister had done when she moved out was to get a dog and Franziska had always been jealous. That dog, Phoenix (because Franziska had named him and thought herself clever at the time, although she had felt remorse for it many times since) was a laid-back Border Collie, though- nothing like the energetic fluffball that was nosing up to her startled brothers for attention.

At some point she'd moved to lean against the door frame and watch Miles and Phoenix interact with Pesu. Diego saw her there and invited her to join them with a glance.

Moving into the room, Franziska sat slowly on the edge of the sofa bed and tried not to scare this sudden addition to the family. She needn't have worried- Pesu was eager to explore everyone and everything, and eager to please, and had all the fearlessness of a very young thing which is not yet aware that young things can be made to hurt just as well as their older counterparts. He bounded back and forth between Franziska and Phoenix, stopped suddenly in between them in the bed, then turned and darted straight at Miles.

Miles caught Pesu reflexively as the dog hurled himself into his arms with an abrupt happy bark. Miles looked up at Diego and Mia, dazed, as the dog wriggled himself further into the man's arms and licked at his face.

"Think of him as a grand opening gift," Mia suggested. "The law offices of Armando and Fey and Company are now open for business, good sirs and ma'am, and my job offers still stand." Diego accentuated this speech with a flourishing and ridiculously overwrought bow. "_And,_ to make this good news even better, Diego and I have already taken a case- and I believe we have enough money now to move into a house. Somewhere there's a little more room for us all to spread out."

Franziska opened her mouth to point out that this was only a temporary arrangement and thought better of it.

Miles opened his mouth to point out the same thing, and also thought better of it.

Phoenix was entirely too preoccupied with playing with Pesu to care. He slapped his hands down on the bedding in front of Miles and grinned when the dog snapped playfully at the air his hands had moved through, without Pesu bothering to move from Miles' lap.

"So I suppose he's a housewarming gift, really," Diego said thoughtfully. "Now that we have a house. The money's likely to be a little tight at first, but with four defense attorneys and a prosecutor's income, we should be more than fine in a short while."

No one protested this statement. Unseen by the other three, Diego and Mia exchanged grins. They said as clearly as any spy movie, _Our plan is working. It is time to enter the next phase._

Not that they knew what the next phase _was_ yet, but Unexpected Improvisation Number One had worked well enough. With any luck the next idea would also go over. Even if it worked only half as well as Pesu it would be a tremendous success, after all.

She and Diego had already picked out a house- modestly sized, in a nice enough suburban neighbourhood, with a yard for Pesu and three bedrooms and an office that could be turned into an extra bedroom at need. Diego insisted on the office for this purpose. After all, he reasoned, his kitten had _already_ picked up four strays now- he wouldn't be surprised if they acquired more of them. With Miles and Phoenix and Franziska helping, and considering just how little they owned for five people, it didn't take long to finish all the arrangements and move in.


	3. Three

**Disclaimer:** I'm trying to catch up on some of my stories on here, since I've moved home and am in a weird kind of limbo while looking for a job. My goal is to complete some of my fics; hopefully I'll manage it.

* * *

**Without Wings**

**III.

* * *

  
**

They had very little in the way of furniture, naturally. What had seemed cluttered in a one-bedroom apartment seemed scarce in a three-bedroom home. Mia insisted they immediately buy two more beds, and would have insisted on three if money had allowed, but Miles insisted he and Phoenix could continue to share one.

It only took a day for Mia to instill potted plants everywhere in the house. Between that and the scarce furniture, in a house with light carpets and plentiful windows, it was a very airy and open and warm inviting home. It couldn't have been a bigger contrast to the von Karma estate. Mia had no real way of knowing this, of course, but she suspected it.

She at last persuaded Phoenix and Miles into the offices of Armando-Fey and Co. They even had cases asking for them specifically, almost immediately.

There was one precaution Diego insisted on. He didn't tell the boys- but he kept very close track of whether Manfred von Karma was in the country and kept them from taking cases if he was.

"I still keep thinking he's going to show up here one day, and be absolutely furious with us for corrupting every last one of his pet prosecutors," Mia confessed to Diego one night as they lay in bed.

"We don't have to let him in if he does," Diego murmured, nuzzling into her neck. Mia squirmed. "This is our den and our pride in here, and he would be an interloper. We can get him on breaking and entering if he tries to get in anyway."

Laughing breathlessly as he mouthed kisses into her neck, Mia replied in amusement, "Our pride, is it? I thought prides had only one male lion. I don't know about you but I sincerely doubt Miles and Phoenix are about to leave."

"Kittens," Diego shrugged dismissively. "They know who's in charge of this pack."

"Is it a pack or a pride now?" Mia teased as Diego levered himself up on his elbows to pounce playfully at her.

"Little of both, I think," he murmured, staring into her eyes, and then there was no more spoken conversation for quite some time.

They'd never quite broken the three von Karmas from studying to all hours of the night and Mia sighed when she came down to start breakfast the next morning. All three of them were in the living room, sound asleep over textbooks. Pesu lifted his head from his paws where he was perched on Phoenix's back and whined softly at her as she crossed the room and opened the windows. For once, Phoenix wasn't clinging to Miles in his sleep. She reflected that this was probably a good sign...

...except that Miles was curled around Phoenix instead.

Still. It was Phoenix they wanted to wean off dependence on Miles, not the other way around. This could be an improvement. Granted he was sleeping on the floor again, but that rather lost its impact when Franziska and Miles had fallen asleep there with him. Mia crossed her arms and observed the room for a long moment. Diego came up beside her and handed her a mug of coffee.

She smiled. "It reminds me of the study sleepovers Lana and I used to have in law school," she said, somewhat sadly, rubbing her arms. Then she looked up at him. "Diego, I think they need a vacation."

"And we are going to afford this... how?" he asked, but he didn't honestly look all that concerned with the answer.

"We don't have to go anywhere," Mia suggested. "We can just close the office. Convince Franziska to call in sick, somehow." Diego snorted but didn't interrupt. "We can have a game day. A movie night. Stay at home for a week or so, be completely lazy and goof off."

"Act like teenagers, you mean." Pesu put his head back down upon realizing it was too early for Phoenix to be up. Mia had been adamant that her office opened at eleven a.m. and there was therefore no need for them to be awake at four-thirty. Frankly, Mia suspected they were using the opportunity to catch up on years of lost sleep.

"They could use some time to act like teenagers," she pointed out. "I doubt they ever got the chance."

"What, you mean those two should get out their feelings by going at it like rabbits?"

"_Diego!_" She hit him lightly on the arm as they made their way into the kitchen. Mia stretched and revelled in not hitting any cabinets or appliances as she did so. A spacious kitchen was truly a wonderful thing.

In the end, they let the three sleep. Mia called Franziska in to the office for the week (much to the shock of her secretary, but Mia had met Hannah and the girl had come to consider Mia as her boss' guardian. She didn't argue). Diego called in to their office and left a message on the answering machine to the effect that having wild monkey sex was keeping them all from work this week. Mia decided that smacking him for it this early in the morning was just not worth the effort.

She _did_ smack him when he called and left Marvin Grossberg the same message. Really, there was no need to torment the poor man.

She went back into the living room and shut the windows again so that the light didn't come in at an angle that would wake her younger charges. "Pesu," she murmured, and the dog trotted up to her with his tail wagging. She let him out for a run in the yard. When she let him back in, he ran immediately back to the living room and snuggled in beside Phoenix and Miles again. She smiled and had a sudden burst of inspiration.

There was a camera in the hall closet, pushed out of the way during the move. She retrieved it now and took several pictures of the sleeping trio. Franziska was starting to wake up so she stashed it away again fairly quickly, but the plan was already taking shape in her mind.

Franziska looked up at the clock immediately and her face registered shock as she leaped to her feet. "I'm late for work," she breathed in horror, looking around the room.

"Ease up, kitten," Diego advised as he sidled back into the room after passing Mia hiding the camera.

"You're out sick for the week. Mia made the call this morning. Hannah says you look like you could use the rest," he added.

She wrung the handle of her whip and he wondered where exactly she had just gotten it from. Did she _sleep_ with the damn thing? "This is unacceptable," she said at last. She looked to be truly upset. "I cannot miss a week of work. I cannot miss work!"

"_Yes_, you can," he said firmly. "Mia and I have closed the office as well. We're all taking a week off to laze around the house like delinquent teenagers."

This clearly did not reassure her.

Pesu lifted his head and whined at them for making so much noise before plopping back down.

"Come and join me and Mia in the kitchen for breakfast," Diego cajoled. "No reason to wake the rest of the pack."

Reluctantly, she followed him into the kitchen where Mia was just finishing making omelettes. "Going to go and pick up some movies later," she said cheerfully as Franziska sat down. "I think I'll be getting us some board games, as well. Possibly one of those Wiis that Diego's been trying to talk me into."

Franziska nodded and stayed silent, anxiety stark on her face. Mia was confident that if she could _just _getthem past the initial anxiety this vacation would do the three of them a world of good.

Miles didn't wake up until well past noon. Mia checked on him and Phoenix periodically, but she couldn't imagine they didn't need the sleep with the kind of work they drove themselves to- she found a blanket to pull over them both and let them be. Pesu whined happily as he wriggled into the warm bedding.

She asked Franziska if she had any preference for movies, but the younger girl seemed at a loss for how to reply to this. Mia recalled that there hadn't been a television in the boys' old apartment. For that matter, she'd never seen any of the three of them show even remote interest in the television set here. She wondered about that. Surely, no matter _how_ strict Manfred von Karma was, he wouldn't have been able to prevent three young children from becoming familiar with a TV.

Then again…She already knew the man hadn't been a fan of conventional schooling. With tutors coming to the estate every day, and no reason for Miles or Franziska or Phoenix to leave the grounds, and added to that the fact that the man had clearly caused them to study themselves into exhaustion… was _still_ succeeding in causing them all to study themselves into exhaustion, despite being half a world away…

Thoughtfully, Mia made a quick call to Kurain.

When she hung up with Maya she lingered in the living room doorway. Miles was awake- he didn't seem to have realized the time though. He was propped up on one elbow, one hand buried in the fur of Pesu's neck and scratching slowly, the other hand running through Phoenix's hair. Phoenix was still sound asleep- as she watched, he sighed in his sleep and shifted closer to Miles, pressing against his hand.

Miles frowned. His eyes were dark with concern as he gazed at his friend.

She found the camera again, checked that the flash was off, and took another picture. She came back and stood in the doorway again after returning the camera to its shelf because there was something incredibly peaceful about watching the two boys. For the first time, Mia became aware that she'd been thinking of the young lawyers in possessive terms since even before getting the house- they were _her_ two boys, _her_ three charges, people _she_ was determined to watch over and take responsibility for. Well, with Diego's help, of course.

She reflected wryly that this was _not_ the family she would have imagined starting. For one thing, the relative ages involved were ridiculous.

Phoenix shifted onto his side and made an odd contented sound deep in his throat. She couldn't help her quick intake of breath. Miles looked up at her.

"Sorry," Mia said awkwardly. She'd just been standing there watching them, after all. "It's just, I think that's the first noise I've ever heard him make."

Miles nodded and looked down again. He ran his thumb lightly across Phoenix's forehead before saying quietly, "Phoenix can make some noise. He just can't speak." He lowered his voice slightly as he said, "He tries to be silent."

Mia waited to see if he planned on elaborating on this. When it became clear that he did not, she abandoned her place by the door to go and sit on the floor with them. She didn't say anything, not wanting to break the strange atmosphere in the room. Diego had left to buy board games and movies, and after much wheedling and an impressive display of athletics as far as dodging a whip wielded by a furious young girl went, he'd convinced Franziska to come with him. The house felt echoing and silent and strange.

Slowly, Miles' hand slipped from Phoenix's hair, to his cheek, to the choker around his neck. He played with the catch. Phoenix twitched slightly in his sleep and whimpered, and this time Mia heard the whisper of sound he produced. Maybe it had always been there and she simply hadn't noticed. Miles' eyes darkened again.

"Think you can convince him to take it off?" Mia asked, cautiously.

He did not- quite- jump. It was clear, however, that he'd forgotten she was there. "I don't know," Miles said slowly. He started to say something else and stopped.

Mia's heart raced at that. If they could _just_ convince the boys to _talk_ to her, or to Diego, or even to Franziska if it came to that- she was sure that would be a huge step towards healing. She waited with her hands clenched on her knees and didn't move. Her patience was rewarded when Miles, haltingly, started to speak again.

"It was the only gift that Manfred ever gave him, the first Christmas we lived with him. I think it was the only thing Manfred ever really _gave_ him period." He drew in a deep breath and let it out again. "I remember… how much it bothered me to see it on him. It was loose on him then. Phoenix hadn't even really realized what it was yet, and Manfred took it out of his hands and put it around his neck, and I remember… that the sound the clasp made when he closed it was horrible." He fell silent. Very, very lightly, he brushed his fingers against Phoenix's neck just above the black leather and Phoenix arched into his touch with a soft whine.

Mia tried very hard not to hold her breath.

"I asked him to take it off that night after the doors were locked," Miles continued in a whisper, proving to her again that patience was indeed a virtue no matter what Diego had to say about it. She bit back the questions crowding her throat in favour of listening. Pesu pressed his paws up against Miles' leg and tilted his head at the man as if encouraging him. "He didn't want to…He was afraid to..."

_You will wear this from now on, boy,_ Manfred von Karma said from out of the depths of the past. _I will not see you in my presence without it. You will not take it off. Do you understand, boy? It is not to come off and I am not to see you without it, at any point. You will not like the consequences.  
_  
"…So I took it off him instead." Miles' gaze was distant and his hand stilled, fingers splayed gently against Phoenix's throat, as he swallowed hard and whispered, "Manfred was furious."

After a long silence Mia blinked and realized that Miles wasn't going to say anything more. It was clear enough there was more to this story, seeing as the choker was still snugly around Phoenix's neck, but it was also equally clear that Miles was done talking about it.

He had opened up to her. Just as she and Diego had hoped, had planned for, hell, had _plotted_ for, he had finally begun to open up to her.

And she had no idea what to say to him.

Miles was caught up in remembering now, staring down at his friend. Manfred had known Phoenix hadn't disobeyed him. Miles had _confessed_ to taking the choker off his friend. But he didn't punish Miles. He never punished Miles… only Phoenix. Always Phoenix, and Miles had never been able to protect him. That time had been one of the worst, because Manfred had seen the files and records on all of Phoenix's past, and he knew exactly what he was doing, and after he hit Phoenix harder than he ever had before he'd locked him in the smallest closet in the house without any lights on. When he let him out the next morning Phoenix was shaking and scared and Manfred made him put the choker back on and his hands shook so much that Miles had to help him.

_He would be so very attractive with a leash to clip to that collar of his_, said the shade of Dahlia Hawthorne, and Miles' hand tightened convulsively on the clasp. With sudden jerky movements he unfastened it and flung the necklace (_the collar, _whispered his conscience, _and you've always known that's what it means_) far away from him. Far away from Phoenix.

Startled out of sleep, Phoenix's eyes shot open.

"...I woke you," Miles apologized, and Mia had no idea how he managed to make the words say _sorry._

Phoenix shrugged, _it's all right,_ and Mia blinked when she realized she was starting to understand how well the two communicated without words. She'd even learned what a great many of their expressions and gestures meant and she'd never even noticed that she knew it.

He frowned and felt at his neck, and then his eyes widened and he looked at Miles with one of the expressions she _hadn't _deciphered yet. There was too much in it- fear, apology, shared memories, questions, confusion, and that was only what she had learned to see. There was still more to it that she didn't understand.

Unnoticed now, Mia rose and retreated from the room, because it had been an unexpectedly private look and she felt almost voyeuristic for having witnessed it at all.

"Sorry," Miles repeated, absently resting his fingers against Phoenix's throat again. Phoenix twisted to look up at him and then stilled as the feather-light touch trailed across his throat. He closed his eyes because Miles could read his thoughts in them and tried not to show just how sensitive the skin there was.

Frankly, he suspected he was failing. He swallowed, and then shuddered because that made it _worse, _and Miles stopped and he suppressed a whine from building up in his throat.

"Sorry," Miles said _again_, and Phoenix started to raise his hands to sign a question, and Miles chose just then to scratch lightly at where the metal clasp had rested against his skin for years and Phoenix felt his muscles turn to water. He failed to suppress a moan and felt his face heat up.

"Phoenix?" Miles asked curiously, and stopped scratching but didn't move his hand. Phoenix kept his eyes shut tight and tried to will the blood from his face and oh god, why was his body _reacting_ like this?

"_Please_ tell me I'm not going to have to have _that _conversation with you two," came Mia's strained voice, and Phoenix slit his eyes open to see her standing at the entrance to the kitchen balancing tea and breakfast. Miles finally pulled his hand away from his neck and Phoenix didn't know whether to be relieved or upset.

Befuddled, Miles said, "What conversation?"

Mia closed her eyes as Phoenix opened his all the way and sat up, pulling the quilt around himself. "This is not happening," Mia muttered, seemingly to herself. "This is not happening. Please, let this not be happening."

The extremely awkward conversation that would likely have followed this was forestalled by Diego and Franziska's return.

"- This is the _song that never ends!_ Yes it goes _on and on_ my _friends!_ Some people, _started_ singin' it not _know_ing what it was, and they'll continue _sing_ing it forever _just because_- Sing it with me, 'Ziska!"

"_Franziska,_" the girl snarled as she set down her armful of packages. "And I refuse to indulge in such foolishness," she added, with enough ice in her tone to freeze the bay.

Diego was not deterred. "Kitten, I am buying you a thesaurus the next time we're out. I'll put a note on the fridge about it."

Mia rolled her eyes and handed Miles the plate of breakfast on her way to greet her lover. "By which I assume you mean _I_ will put a note on the fridge."

_What day is it?_ Phoenix signed frantically, and Miles' eyes widened as he realized the reason for the question.

"Work," he gasped.

"We are having a _vacation_," Mia said firmly. "Diego and I have closed the office for a week. And as your boss, I'm ordering you to take the week off."

_Franziska?_ Phoenix signed.

"Called in for the week as well, also by me. Because, like I said, we're all having ourselves a well-earned rest." She hugged Diego and took several shopping bags from him. "Now that we're all awake and present, I present to you your rules and choices for the next week." After lengthy discussion Diego had pointed out that they could probably get better results if they at least provided the illusion of structure to this holiday.

Diego took over as he pulled several boxes from the first bag. "Option one," he began, "Board games. We are now the proud owners of Clue, Monopoly, Balderdash, Jenga and Charades."

Mia's eyebrows knitted together. "Diego. Those last two aren't board games." She frowned. "Wait, did you just say you _bought_ Charades?"

"Option two!" Diego said very loudly. He emptied several more bags onto the floor in front of Phoenix and Miles and moved a few things into view from beside the door. Pesu sat up eagerly and barked at the noise. "Outdoor games. We have a _yard_, puppies and kittens, and we are intending to _use_ it. I have here! Hula hoops, jump ropes, kickballs, sidewalk chalk, baseball bats, baseball gloves, a catcher's mitt, five Super Soakers, and a children's croquet game!"

Overwhelmed, Miles, Phoenix, and Franziska, now that she had gone to sit on the couch and because she had apparently not been paying much attention while out shopping with Diego, sat quietly and listened to the litany of toys and games.

"And of course, there are also the games that require no equipment, such as! Simon Says, Red Light Green Light, Mother May I, Red Rover, Capture the Flag, Lava Sharks, and the ever-popular Tag. In addition! We have seen to the purchase of Flavor Ice and old children's cartoons for the mornings, popsicles and crayons for the afternoons, and an assortment of movies and ice cream for the evenings."

Mia finished this all up with a determined gleam in her eyes and a very final statement of, "Ladies and gentlemen, for the next week, we are going to _play._"


	4. Four

**Disclaimer:** Hey I'm not dead! I also got some inspiration to work on this again, so uh. Hopefully that goes well.

* * *

**Without Wings**

**IV.

* * *

**

They started off slow, but that was to be expected. The Super Soakers came out first as the two responsible adults (that phrase made Mia want to laugh herself sick when applied to herself and Diego) ordered them all out to the backyard and proceeded to wage watery war. Pesu made himself helpful by following Phoenix around and barking incessantly in enjoyment of the game, which had the effect of giving away Phoenix and Miles' positions.

It wasn't as difficult as Mia had feared to convince them all to play. Hit a few times with the water bazooka Diego had snagged for himself, competitive streaks began to emerge, and shortly enough the yard was full of yelling and laughter and barking and war whoops (from Diego) and the sound of five grown adults acting wonderfully like children.

They lost track of time, which Mia suspected the three youngest in the group had never done before without the aid of text books. The sun was setting when she snuck up behind Phoenix and Miles in the bushes at one end of the overgrown yard (she saw no need to tame the jungle out there just yet) and paused short of firing on them, because Phoenix was kneeling in the shadows of the bush while Miles poured water from his gun onto the edge of his shirt and tried to wipe the black off Phoenix's neck that was a legacy of the old choker.

Dusk and the loss of visibility meant the end of the game at last. Diego climbed on top of the fence, likely horrifying their neighbours, and proclaimed an armistice in ringing tones that were only slightly diminished by the soaked state of his clothing and the mud on his face.

"You got mud on your face! You big disgrace!" Mia shouted energetically at him, defiantly pulling Phoenix and Miles to her side. "I have hostages, Diego Armando, and I demand you surrender to me this instant! Or..." She struck an overly-dramatic pose, "We will _rock you!_"

Diego's face instantly transformed to puppy-dog sadness. "But kitten! I thought we were fighting on the same side! For _love!_"

"We've got to hold on to what we've got!" Mia shot back.

"But it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not!" Diego protested.

_I feel like we're missing something,_ Phoenix signed in bewilderment. Miles nodded, watching the two argue back and forth. At least, he _thought _they were arguing.

This bewilderment only grew when the shouting match, which had appeared to be escalating, resulted in Diego suddenly bursting into song. "I can see a new horizon, underneath the blazin' sky! I'll be where the eagle's flying- higher and higher! Gonna be your man in motion, all I need is a pair of wheels, take me where my future's lyin', St. Elmo's _Fiiiiire!_"

It was at this point that a frustrated neighbour began shouting at them and they beat a hasty retreat back indoors, where Mia immediately set up a game of Jenga in the hallway while they took turns showering. She had persuaded them to play- she was not going to lose her momentum now.

Mia managed to take photos of them all bedraggled and muddy from the water wars without being caught by anyone but Diego. For his part, Diego was seriously starting to wonder just _exactly_ what the childhood pastimes in Kurain entailed for its residents to grow up so very sneaky.

It had also been sneaky of her to get them to play Jenga on the hallway floor, where the plush carpeting made it nearly impossible for anyone to actually win. They'd taken advantage of their kitten's strong competitive streaks to get everyone to start playing children's games, but to allow those competitive streaks to strengthen would defeat their purpose. So they subtly found ways to prevent anyone keeping track of scores.

With this in mind, as they sat down to dinner that night- peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and butter pecan ice cream, and it was a testament to the good the day had done them that no one protested this as a meal- Diego made up his mind to cheat wildly at every single board game in the next week.

After all, if it was so incredibly blatant that it was impossible for anyone to _not_ realize he was cheating, then it wasn't really cheating at all. Right?

When he explained this logic to Mia during a game of Monopoly and after announcing that he was robbing the bank, she threw up her hands in despair and didn't bother to argue.

Because Diego refused to stop embezzling money from the bank after that, and shortly moved on to building a park in the middle of the board with the game pieces intended for his few properties, it was quickly hopelessly impossible to determine who was winning.

The fact that he'd taken to liberally redistributing the play money every time anyone left the table only served to further muddy the waters as far as scoring went.

Eventually Mia gave up and declared the game suspended for the night. By that point Diego had finished the park, started charging rent on the jail, and had exactly one dollar to his name. They left the game in place to continue the next night, fully aware that by that time money and properties would have changed hands impossibly again.

Mia herded them all into the living room to watch a movie. She glared at Diego when the first movie he handed her turned out to be _The Lion King._ Setting it down well out of sight Mia searched for another movie. Diego, clearly still feeling mischievous from the game of Monopoly, next handed her _Cinderella_ and she told him to go and sit down in exasperation.

She didn't see exactly how he did it, but somehow on his trip from the television to the couch Diego managed to completely rearrange the seating arrangement in the room. While Phoenix and Miles had started out on the floor and Franziska in the armchair with Pesu, when she turned to check on them the sofa bed was pulled out and Diego leaned against the sofa back smirking. Phoenix was sprawled between Miles and Franziska so that Diego, and presumably Mia once she joined them, could see over their heads and the quilt was situated to cover everyone on the bed. Pesu wandered on top of it, not ready to settle down yet.

Eventually she settled on _The Aristocats_ and went to make herself comfortable beside Diego as the movie started to play. There was some startled stirring as the three kids (and she couldn't stop herself thinking of them as _kids_, despite their ages and maturity) reacted to the fact that they were watching a children's movie. An _animated_ children's movie, at that.

But a glance at Diego and Mia showed them thoroughly enjoying themselves, and Phoenix at least was clearly immediately enthralled. He signed something privately to Miles that made the other man choke on a laugh as the three kittens were introduced on-screen.

Safely out of their sight, Diego nudged Mia, then pointed at each of the kittens in the movie, then pointed at each of _their_ three kittens on the bed and raised an eyebrow. Mia smirked and nodded.

The alley cat in the movie made all three younger lawyers twist around to look at Diego before returning their attention to the screen. Mia snorted in amusement at Diego's expression.

It wasn't a long movie and the night was still young when the credits were rolling. Diego started to get up so Mia didn't have to, but remembering his earlier choices she yanked him back down and went to change movies herself. _Harold and Maude_ was next, and then _Young Frankenstein_, and somewhere between _Shrek_ and _Footloose_ Mia realized she was the only one still awake. Even Diego was snoring, resting his head on her shoulder.

Smiling contentedly, she clicked off the TV and the DVD player and settled down to sleep.

She woke early the next morning to find that everyone was slowly waking at the same time. Except for Diego, that is, who came from the kitchen with a smile crinkling his eyes as he handed her a morning cup of coffee. She took it from him while groaning inwardly at what the game board in there was likely to look like now.

Sure enough, when she swung herself off the sofa bed and went to make breakfast, the Jenga blocks had moved from the upstairs hallway to the table in the kitchen and there were six hotels perched precariously on top of the unsteady tower. Mia eyed this set-up with misgiving as she set about making peanut butter and banana sandwiches. She had them all on a plate to bring back out to the living room, when she stopped and looked at them again.

She cut the crusts off them all with a grin before returning to the other room and to old Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons playing on the television.

"I'm waaaaiting!" Diego called simultaneously with Sonic as Mia re-entered the room. He met her partway to the sofa bed and took the plate of sandwiches from her, freeing her to press her hands down lightly on Phoenix's shoulders as he started to sit up.

His reaction startled them both. Flinching heavily, Phoenix all but threw himself away from Mia's touch, pressing close to the sofa bed and shaking as he clenched his fists in the sheets.

Mia exchanged a look of alarm with Diego. He waited a moment, then placed one hand cautiously just beside Phoenix's shoulder, being very careful _not_ to touch the younger man. Miles had shot up, startled as well, when Phoenix had flung himself down and now started to reach out to his friend. Mia waved him off as she watched Diego intently.

"Hey, kitten, it's okay," Diego murmured, slowly moving his hand so the tips of his fingers just barely brushed against Phoenix's shoulder. Phoenix flinched again. Miles had risen to his knees now. The look of anguish he gave Mia when she continued to keep him from going to his friend's aid was heartbreaking. At the same time, she knew she couldn't let him help- Phoenix needed to learn to accept comfort from _someone other than_ Miles and now was as good a time as any to start.

But Miles' expression made her feel like she'd just kicked a kitten.

Diego kept talking as he very slowly let more of his hand come into contact with Phoenix's shoulder. "It's all right. It was just Mia, kitten, she didn't mean to scare you, you're safe. She just wanted to let you know you didn't have to get up yet. All right? She didn't mean anything by it. It's okay."

Slowly, Phoenix stopped shaking. Slowly, he raised his eyes again, and when Diego's hand was resting carefully on his shoulder and he wasn't trying to twist away Mia let Miles go to him.

Miles had only to start moving forward and Phoenix turned to him and wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in Miles' neck. Over Phoenix's shoulder Miles gave her the _May we have some privacy?_ look.

Marvelling again at the level of speechless communication the two were capable of, and at the fact that it seemed to be _spreading_, Mia respectfully left the room with Diego. Franziska, who'd spent the entire brief episode silently petting Pesu and not looking at anyone, followed them after a moment's hesitation.

Franziska blinked at the new arrangement on the table and then failed to suppress a snort. "Diego Armando, you're a fool."

Wordlessly, Diego found a pen and wrote _Buy Ziska a thesaurus_ on the magnetic list on the fridge. Theoretically it was a grocery list. What it actually said, alternating between Diego's careless scrawl and Mia's much neater handwriting, was _I.O.U One (1) revolving cantaloupe_ as well as _gullible, IGNORE ME, _and _Bum. Per. Cars._

No one even pretended to understand this list besides Diego and Mia themselves. For that matter, whether or not even they understood it was debatable.

While Diego clattered around the kitchen brewing more coffee, and Franziska started on tea, Miles was holding Phoenix in the next room and speaking softly to him.

"Sorry," he repeated inadequately for what felt like the hundredth time. Phoenix's hands moved on his back like he wanted to sign something back, but then he stilled and didn't say anything. Miles let his eyes fall shut and reflected that this, too, was ultimately his fault. He didn't even realise it when he slid one hand to the back of Phoenix's neck, running his fingers across it lazily, until Phoenix made a tiny sound far back in his throat.

Miles realised he hadn't seen the choker since discarding it so dramatically the day before. Thinking back, he suspected Mia had taken the chance to get rid of it for good.

_...I should thank her._ He'd have to find a chance to do so. For now, he focused on Phoenix and on making sure Phoenix was truly all right. "Phoenix...Mia's not going to hurt you." _At least, I don't think she is._ Miles still had some trouble placing this much trust in their self-appointed guardians himself, but he wasn't about to tell Phoenix that. "Diego isn't, either. And you _know_ Franziska won't, and I won't, I promise."

_Not again, anyway._ He had let Phoenix get hurt far too many times over the years. Now that they'd finally found somewhere safe, somewhere he could prevent it...He would. Whatever it took.

It dawned on him then that he had at some point completely accepted this as their permanent home. This was all supposed to be temporary, wasn't it? When had that changed?

_How_ had that changed?

Looking back, he didn't really recall what their plan had been past staying in Diego and Mia's apartment. It certainly hadn't included this house, or Pesu, or their current occupations as defense attorneys, though. They had an income again- they could get another apartment.

There was just one thing stopping him.

He didn't _want_ to leave.

He didn't _want_ to give up this airy home, or their new jobs. He didn't _want_ to give up this feeling of _family._ Mia Fey and Diego Armando had enveloped them all into this strange new family with open arms and he'd been too overwhelmed to even truly notice at first.

It was Miles' turn to start to shake as he thought about this. Phoenix pulled back at last and looked up at him, a question written in his eyes.

"Phoenix, I don't want to _leave,_" Miles murmured. Something that was either fear or close to it sparked in Phoenix's eyes. "No! No, I don't mean... Mia hasn't said anything about it. At this point in time I think she'd stop us somehow if we did try to leave, honestly. But I..." He stopped. He stopped, because he knew what he wanted to say, and he knew it was childish, and Phoenix said it anyway.

_I want to stay here forever,_ and only Phoenix could make sign language come across as wistful.


	5. Five

**Disclaimer: **I have played croquet exactly once in my entire life. I got in trouble. Within the first five minutes.

* * *

**Without Wings**

**V.**

* * *

"Oh for- It's not like we're going to kick you out," Diego said in exasperation, and Miles twitched because he'd never heard the man enter the room. "If you two don't want to leave then it's as simple as _don't leave. _You're old enough no one can make you." Phoenix shot a look of confusion at him over Miles' shoulder at an awkward angle since Miles didn't seem to want to let go of him yet.

Diego grinned at him. "Kitten, did you _really _think I wasn't going to learn sign language at some point?"

Since this was exactly what Phoenix had thought, if he thought about it at all, he could only shrug uncertainly to this.

That made Diego chuckle. He leaned against the side of the sofa. "Come on now, kitten! I want to get to talk to you too, yeah? I've been feeling left out all this time, you know." He winked. "Let me know if you want to chat. I better hurry my ass up; Mia sent me for sandwiches. She wants to eat out in the yard today, so come out and join us whenever you're ready. Kitchen's unguarded so I have a game to play." Message delivered, he grabbed the sandwiches and left again.

After he'd left, and after a long moment, Phoenix started to laugh weakly. Miles finally let go of him, just watching him instead, but Phoenix didn't move away at all. This was as much noise as Phoenix ever made, breathy and almost silent and oddly high-pitched as it was, and he didn't laugh very often, and Miles loved it when he did. He'd probably heard Phoenix laugh more in the past day than in the past five years.

Miles started to laugh, too, out of overwhelming relief and gratitude and _knowing_ that they had a _home_ and they were still laughing as the doorbell rang and Mia darted past, shouting something happily back over her shoulder at Diego.

Distracted as they were, their first introduction to Maya Fey came when the young spirit medium positively _leaped_ onto the bed beside them, making it squeal in protest and making Phoenix start badly. Pesu sprang to his feet and bristled at her, growling protectively, and placing all fifteen ounces of his fluffy self between this _intruder_ and _his_ lawyers.

Not the least bit discouraged by the puppy's righteous anger, Maya exclaimed loudly, "Sis! You didn't tell me they were _cute!_"

"_Maya_!" Mia's tone was more amused than exasperated. "Sorry, kittens-" and just when exactly she'd adopted Diego's favourite mode of address for them was something no one ever did figure out- "This is Maya, my little sister. She's 'Ziska's age and she wanted to come and visit for a while." Luckily neither one of them had cottoned on quite yet as to how relative a time 'a while' could be, and Miles nodded in greeting. Phoenix signed _Hello_ and then the quick complicated motions he used for names. Mia was still translating these signals; Franziska's gesture, for example, was something like _sister whip bird of prey_ strung together very, very quickly. She thought that was what he was signing, anyway. "Phoenix says hello, Maya, this is Phoenix and Miles."

Mia smiled at Edgeworth before taking his arm gently as Maya positively _attached_ herself to Phoenix's side. Pesu whined angrily and Phoenix looked down at the girl clinging to him in disbelief. He tried to shake her off discreetly, then when that didn't work, he tried to _pry_ her off. That also proved to be futile.

"Maya," Mia said wryly, taking pity on Phoenix and pulling her sister away from him, "I didn't tell you that they're _cute_ because I told you that they're _taken_, remember?"

She shot Miles a look as he opened his mouth to question this that made him change what he was about to say mid-word. "Wha....ere are Franziska and Diego?"

"Hopefully in the backyard and not giving the Monopoly board a public transportation system, in Diego's case anyway." She succeeded in getting Maya to back off. "Why don't you two go join them? I'll get Maya settled in for the week and then we'll head out there too."

The croquet game had come out today. The plate of sandwiches sat forgotten on the fence, only missing one or two of the sandwiches, and Franziska was standing in the yard with her arms crossed arguing with Diego.

"Look, 'Ziska-"

"Fran. Zis. Ka. Three syllables. Surely even a fool such as you can manage it."

"Nope, sorry, can't. Look, I have no idea how to play this damn game, it's like herding cats and handing out plastic mallets is just _asking _for trouble. It is a downright _invitation_ to it. These croquet mallets have had trouble out for coffee at a nice little family-owned coffee shop, all right, and they've exchanged numbers and hit on the cute barista together."

Franziska hit him with her plastic mallet.

"_You are proving my point._" Diego rubbed his arm and spotted Phoenix and Miles. "Come save me from your crazy sister, kittens. Either of you know how to play this?"

"I know how!" Maya piped up, and holy hell, where had she just _come_ from? "You hit each other with the mallets. Last one standing wins." She looked thoughtful. "Except I think moles are supposed to be involved somehow."

"That's it. New game," Mia said wryly, joining them all with a handful of popsicles that she handed out absently. "Maya, 'Ziska. 'Ziska, Maya. Since Maya brings our group to an even number, how about some team games? Capture the Flag or dodgeball, your pick."

"_Franziska_." The prosecutor's interjection went ignored.

"Capture the Flag!" Maya cheered, and went to stand beside Franziska. "We can play boys against girls, it all evens out."

"All right," Mia said amiably, herding Phoenix and Miles towards Diego. "Three minutes for each team to work out strategy, Pesu is with _you_ three, and Maya- Diego cheats."

The girl shrugged. "So I'll cheat back and we'll all be even."

By the end of the day Phoenix had a new name combination. It was something along the lines of _sneaky kitten's sister_ and Mia thought this was probably showing an admirable amount of restraint. But then, she also thought Maya's tying their flag to a Frisbee and throwing it to the roof had been clever- and then Diego had gotten onto the roof somehow while she and Franziska chased Pesu around the yard. The scrap of cloth tied loosely around the dog's neck had turned out to be Phoenix's shirt, which was somewhat worrying because that meant Phoenix was running around somewhere shirtless. And Miles was missing too.

Hopefully they weren't going to find any more discarded articles of clothing.

Again the game ended when it was too dark to see. Phoenix swung down unexpectedly from a tree in the corner of the yard, their team's flag tied proudly around his bicep, followed by Miles. Diego slid down the drainpipe despite Mia's scolding but was empty-handed- he claimed he'd accidentally sent the Frisbee flying into the neighbour's yard. Mia wasn't sure whether or not to believe him.

Monopoly deteriorated even faster with Maya and Diego teaming up to sabotage everyone at every turn, and it wasn't long before they gave up on the game in favour of movies- Maya had brought her Steel Samurai DVDs and she curled up happily beside Franziska (who was clearly taken aback at such a blatant display of affection from a near-total stranger) and loudly narrated over the television until Franziska got fed up and hit her with the whip.

To her shock, Maya hit her back.

Mia eyed the quickly escalating fight warily and murmured, "Diego...should we stop them?"

He shrugged. "In a moment, maybe. Right now they're acting like teenage girls; we _want_ that, remember?"

As Maya resorted to actually pulling Franziska's hair and Phoenix and Miles hastily dove out of their way and behind the armchair, followed shortly by Pesu, Mia had to question this logic.

"Knock it off!" Diego roared at last, fed up. The girls didn't look like they planned on stopping anytime soon. They both froze at Diego's roar, Maya looking sheepish and Franziska terrified for a split second before her expression hardened. "Enough. That's eno-"

The room shook suddenly, tossing him sideways. The lights went out.

Someone screamed, and it wasn't any of the girls.

The world was shaking and dark and Miles' weight kept him pinned to the floor; arms on either side of him in a protective embrace prevented his curling up in a terrified ball like he dearly wanted to do. Something small and furry and howling with fear tried to burrow beneath him for safety. The tiny part of his mind not paralyzed with terror said it was probably Pesu- the pup had likely never been in an earthquake before, after all. Lucky dog.

Miles had screamed as he flattened them both to the floor. Phoenix probably would have screamed too, if he'd had a voice to scream with, but his startled gasp conveyed the same message. Miles' grip tightened gradually almost to the point of pain and Phoenix's arms started to ache from being trapped beneath them both.

Someone was shouting. He couldn't make out what they were saying through the ringing in his ears at first and then as sound gradually began to filter back into the world he recognized Mia's voice.

"-Phoenix! Miles! _Miles!_ It's _okay_, you two, it's okay- everyone's fine, all right? We're all right here, look- Diego's right next to you, and I'm here and so are Maya and 'Ziska!"

He knew, rationally, that he should get up. He should reassure her.

"The quake's over now, kittens," said Diego's voice from somewhere very close by, startling Phoenix into jerking against Miles' hold. Miles still didn't ease up at all. "Come on now. You're perfectly safe. We need you to get up, hey? We're all safe. We'd just be saf_er_ in a room without windows. And kittens, I'd be happy to carry you, but I can't carry you _both_ so you're going to need to get up for me."

Slowly, gradually, inexorably, with copious gentle urging and feather-light touches, Mia and Diego coaxed Miles to let go of Phoenix. They got them to their feet. They led the boys, stumbling, to their room. It wasn't that their room didn't have windows- it did, every room in the house did, Mia had made sure of that when they bought the house-- but it was _their_ room.

Both the boys were sick and shaking from fear as Diego steered them onto the bed. Phoenix curled up right away, catlike, and Miles immediately latched onto him again.

"Maya," Mia said without looking up from the bed, "You can sleep in our room tonight, all right? Diego and I will stay in here. And 'Ziska..." She hesitated a moment. "Well, it's up to you. You can stay here too, or you can go back to your own room, or... you two can go and finish watching Steel Samurai if you like. Just, please don't fight."

Franziska took a moment before answering. Before saying anything at all, she moved past Maya into the room to pick up Firebrand from the dresser. She set the stuffed bird lightly on the bed beside her brothers and nodded once, sharply, at Mia before leaving for the living room. After only a slight hesitation Maya followed her.

Sitting lightly at the side of the boy's bed, Mia beckoned to Diego. He stopped and brushed a hand across the case files littering the top of the dresser before sighing and sitting down beside his lover on the bed. "Case files," he said by way of explanation. "Looks like the kids really did need a vacation, Mia-kitten."

She sighed as she leaned across the bed. Miles and Phoenix were still well out of it; Phoenix at least was conscious, but the twin panic attacks had clearly taken a toll on them both. Phoenix's breathing started to even out as he tried to curl up so that he took up even less space. Mia reached over and gently smoothed Miles' hair away from his face. It was such an oddly possessive and fiercely _maternal _gesture that it caused Diego's train of thought to derail spectacularly. He almost didn't hear her when Mia started speaking.

"They try so hard, Diego. Franziska, too. They all try so hard, and it's all for a man who doesn't _care_ about them- he hasn't tried to contact 'Ziska even once since she moved in, and she's his own blood!" She watched the boys as she spoke, and her expression was haunted and protective and worried and determined and strangely proud all at once. "And it's horrible, the kind of work he drives them to, even now when he's nowhere near close enough to actually _enforce_ anything." She swallowed. "And what he's _done_- to take in two boys, helpless and hurting, and then to take advantage of it like that- I can't believe _anyone_ would do that."

She fell silent then, as Diego gently wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He'd left the door cracked open when the girls left- now Pesu nosed his way inside and trotted to the bed, sitting back and looking up at Mia expectantly. She smiled sadly at the dog before scooping him up and setting him on the bed. Pesu wormed his way in next to Phoenix.

Diego had just opened his mouth to say something when Mia started speaking again, thoughtfully. "I've been doing some research. It's a little hard to figure out what we can do about Phoenix and Miles, since they're not legally children anymore and since they were raised in Germany. The laws mainly provide for taking children _away_ from an abusive situation, not... what to do afterwards." She grinned fiercely as she added, "But he can't come and get 'Ziska. _She's_ still legally a child, so we can stop him if he does show up. I think he realises it." She paused, then added, "It isn't that I _want_ the man to try and contact her, really, just that… well, I'm surprised he _hasn't_."

He waited a long moment to be sure she was truly done speaking this time before replying. "We could report him on 'Ziska. The problem is, that would probably result in her being placed in some kind of foster care, and it would... probably not be us, Mia-kitten. We'll find a way to make von Karma taste bitter defeat, but not now. Now, the kittens are safe here. Now, I hate to say it, but it's probably better if we wait for von Karma to trip up." He rubbed her shoulder gently. "To drag it all out into the open now would only make the kittens hurt. I promise, Manfred von Karma won't get away with this." He laughed, surprising her. "And wow, did _that_ sound like a line out of a bad spy movie."

They settled themselves comfortably on the foot of the bed while Phoenix and Miles continued to sleep. They didn't know it then, but it would be another four years before they'd see von Karma convicted.

Phoenix woke up disoriented. The world had been dark and shaking last he remembered, although when he opened his eyes late morning sunlight slanted across the room and made him squint. He had a moment of terror because _it was silent and it shook, and this wasn't where he fell asleep_- and then Mia looked up at him from where she was sitting at the end of the bed playing Cat's Cradle with Diego and smiled.

_Morning, kitten_, she signed so that Miles could continue sleeping. _Back to sleep with you- it's still early._

He wanted to protest this, but the death grip Miles had on him prevented him moving his arms and signing anything back. He made a face at her instead that he hoped conveyed that would be inexcusably slothful. Come to think of it, he'd never figured out how to sign _slothful_, so maybe not being able to use his hands at the moment didn't mean much.

Diego leaned in and ruffled his hair affectionately. Phoenix jerked away in surprise, heart racing, and then winced when he realised it was _Diego_ he was flinching from. "Hey, no one's going to hurt you here," Diego murmured softly. "That's one of my ru- hm?" He looked away for a moment as Mia signed something to him out of Phoenix's line of sight. "My point is that you're safe as the coffee blends I hid from Mia-kitten, so go back to sleep, all right. Vacation's for lazing away." He leaned across them both to pick up a coffee mug from the nightstand and said sternly, or at least as sternly as Diego ever said anything, "Back to sleep."

Closing his eyes, Phoenix fell asleep again focusing on Miles' steady breathing and the soft conversation between Mia and Diego. They kept their voices low, and he couldn't make out what they were saying, but it was comforting to hear them at all.

It was much later when he woke up again. Miles was awake this time, frowning and staring at the ceiling as he absently held Phoenix, and the two older lawyers were now _sprawling _at one end of the bed with complete disregard for the fact that it didn't really have enough room for four people even if only _one _of them sprawled.

He wriggled slightly to try and signal to Miles that he'd really like to have his hands free now. Miles let go, and Phoenix signed _Good morning_ as Diego and Mia looked up at them. Privately Phoenix wondered just when the two of them _slept_. Of course, the fact that Diego seemed dead set on replacing his blood with caffeine was probably a contributor to the way they seemed to be up at all hours and yet never appeared to be the least bit tired.

"Morning!" Mia greeted cheerfully. On second glance, she was playing Hangman with Diego on a piece of scrap pa- wait. That was a case file.

"Head out the living room as soon as you get yourselves up and moving," Diego suggested, doodling in a stick-arm as Mia wrote _O?_ on the paper.

What they saw as they made their way downstairs some time later, both having showered and then dressed in normal attire until Mia saw them, surprised them both. Mia had managed to wheedle them into changing into sweatshirts and jeans; they'd had to borrow them from Diego since neither Phoenix nor Miles owned any casual clothes. Phoenix picked at his sleeve- the sweatshirt was loose on him and the arms had to be folded back. The left sleeve kept flopping back down.

Miles smirked at him slightly- his own borrowed shirt fit much better, Phoenix being a good deal skinnier and slightly shorter than him. Phoenix pushed his hands into the pocket of the sweatshirt to try and stop himself fiddling with it and glared ineffectually at his friend. He was distracted from this when they saw Maya and Franziska. The girls were seated close together on the couch, heads bowed, Maya giggling and Franziska laughing softly.

_Franziska laughs?_ Phoenix signed in bewilderment, after a moment of difficulty extracting his hands from Diego's shirt's enveloping pocket.

"Apparently," Miles murmured, wide eyed. He tried to edge cautiously into the room without the girls noticing, Phoenix a step behind.

Maya heard them and looked up. She grinned brightly. "Hey Phoenix, hey Miles! Guess what!"

Phoenix had actually raised his hands to sign a guess before realising she was going to continue whether he did or not.

"Diego got a DS when he was shopping with 'Ziska!" Maya beamed as she swivelled to face the two. "Me and 'Ziska have been playing it all night, look, it's this game about lawyers, it's really cool, you'd like it-" For some reason this assertion set her giggling again, and Franziska reclined back against the couch and chuckled quietly as well.

_Better not to ask_, Phoenix signed after a moment's delay. Miles nodded, and Phoenix signed _Breakfast_? and looked at him hopefully. Miles suppressed a small smile as he nodded again and headed into the kitchen. Phoenix trotted at his heels, which was especially disconcerting when Pesu came racing down the stairs to trot eagerly beside Phoenix. _Dog wants breakfast too_, Phoenix signed with a smile when he was back in Miles' line of sight as they rummaged through the kitchen for something to eat. He never had come up with a sign for Pesu. _Dog _worked perfectly fine, Miles supposed, considering he didn't usually use it in a context that could mean anything _but_ Pesu. Unless he was being rude. Miles didn't usually translate for him if he was, though, and none of the others knew to recognize his insults with the possible exception of Diego.

He found a can of tuna in the cabinet above the microwave. Tuna salad couldn't be hard to make, right? He'd seen Phoenix make it before.

Ten minutes later he and Phoenix were poking tentatively at sandwiches that were conclusive evidence that yes, it i_is_/i possible to screw up tuna salad. Badly, at that. Even Pesu's breakfast looked more appetizing. Luckily Diego took pity on them when he came searching for food himself.

"Some biscotti," he said as he took a box from the highest cabinet, one Mia conveniently couldn't reach without a stepladder. "No cooking required and goes well with coffee, the perfect breakfast."

Since waiting for Mia to take pity on them as well failed- she only smiled and stole Diego's biscotti when she came in at last- and their other option was at the best a display of questionable culinary skills and at worst likely to give them food poisoning, Phoenix eagerly accepted biscotti and coffee from Diego. So did Miles, after a few more half-hearted attempts at eating his sandwich.

It was raining. Miles was surprised to find he was fairly saddened by this, because it meant they wouldn't be playing in the yard. He'd always liked the rain before. Phoenix never had, though. Thunder and lightning had always frightened him and his sign language had never quite been adequate for explaining why.

It was only a matter of minutes before he had proof that rain didn't stop them playing outside.

He was crouched with his arms around Phoenix, who was thoroughly soaked and not entirely happy about being out in this weather, even though it was a fairly gentle rain and not at all like the storms that scared him. They were huddled on one of the plastic chairs scattered around the yard for this purpose. According to Diego, who was currently circling the yard with his eyes closed and his head tilted in a very predatory manner, this was essential because all grassy areas were now classified as lava.

Miles didn't pretend to understand this game. Franziska, for all her complaints about the utter _foolishness_ of it- after all, the grass was most certainly _not_ lava, and one would have to be a fool to think otherwise- was nevertheless looking grimly pleased with herself for her position on the roof. Really, Mia should know better than to leave a stepladder so temptingly in place.

The folly in this was revealed when Maya and Franziska's escalating argument about whether it was a ladder or a stepladder alerted Diego to their positions.

At that point, though, Mia decided to team up with the boys and managed to keep Diego moving constantly without ever coming across them. Every time he'd come close Mia would shout from somewhere else, or throw a rock at a tree, or send either Phoenix or Miles scurrying out of the way. They called an end to the game when the first flashes of lightning made Phoenix shiver and glance anxiously back at the house.

Back inside, Mia made hot chocolate, ignoring the fact that it was summer, and handed mugs around. She and Diego preferred coffee to hot chocolate but enjoyed trying to convince Franziska and Miles to add marshmallows and whipped cream to their drinks. Neither Phoenix nor Maya needed any persuading.

The rest of the week passed all too quickly, but the good it had done was clear. Franziska was smiling when she left for work Monday morning, faintly, but smiling all the same. It was rarer to wake up to young attorneys in various stages of unconsciousness draped around the living room. Maya did leave at the end of a week but was back before three days had gone by, bringing with her an amount of luggage that made it clear she was intending to stay for some time. It was finally possible to coax Phoenix and Miles into joining them for a lunch break at the office and to convince them that they didn't need to _always _have a case.

Days blurred into weeks, and weeks into months, and suddenly it was Christmas- the first Christmas they all celebrated together.


	6. Six

**Disclaimer:** I should never have been let anywhere near a Jak and Daxter game. Daxter came with my PSP. I played it for a couple hours one day. Then I went out and bought Jak and Daxter, Jak II, Jak III, and Jak X. This is what happened to my free time not already eaten by a job search and helping with my twin brother's schoolwork. Fun times!

* * *

**Without Wings**

**VI.**

* * *

It hurt, in a way she couldn't quite put into words, when Mia rose lazily Christmas morning to discover a note from Diego. The kittens had gone to the office and he'd gone to fetch them back.

Christmas morning, and it never occurred to them that they didn't need to go into work. Mia's breath hissed between her teeth as she rearranged presents beneath the tree and she found herself uncharacteristically wishing severe bodily harm on Manfred von Karma.

"Sis?"

She turned to smiled at her younger sister. "What is it?"

Maya looked sheepish, clasping her hands in front of her. "I wanted to ask you something... See, I have this gift I want to give to Phoenix, but... I'm not sure if it's really appropriate." She studied the carpet intently as she added, "Pearly helped with it."

Well, if Pearls had helped then it couldn't be too inappropriate, Mia reasoned to herself. Pearls was ifour/i- how much mischief could she and Maya possibly get up to?

She had to swiftly revise that statement when Maya showed her a magatama, already infused with energy.

"Maya," she began hesitantly, and Maya interrupted her.

"I know he's not a spirit medium, and I know he's not really a Fey-" Mia noted the _really_ with a strange sort of detached bemusement- "But Pearls and I were talking and we both really, really think this would be good for Phoenix to have. And I mean, I really think it'll work for him, maybe not for 'Ziska or Miles but you _know_ Phoenix is already sensitive, I know you can see it. Pearly infused it, it detects lies-"

Mia had to cut her off then, for fear of her little sister not stopping for air otherwise. "Maya, I don't mind. Really. I think it's very kind of you; Phoenix deserves to know when someone is lying to him."

She visibly relaxed at this. "Thanks, Sis. We had to hide it from Aunt Morgan since she doesn't, you know, consider him part of the family. She'd be upset, so I was kinda afraid you would be, too."

Mia hugged her sister, gently taking the magatama and carefully re-wrapping it before placing it beneath the tree. "I'm not upset at all. I promise."

Once the errant lawyers had been retrieved from work, Mia handed out gifts as they all scattered around the living room. This had to be the only house in the neighbourhood where the living room saw more people sleeping or sprawling in it more often than any of the bedrooms, Mia reflected wryly.

The magatama was one of the last gifts opened. Phoenix eyed it quizzically as Miles leaned over the spill of wrapping paper littering the room around them both- Diego had taken to throwing the discarded paper at them and Maya had joined in on it quickly.

"It's called a magatama," Maya spoke up helpfully. "It lets you see the lies in people's hearts."

"Foolishness," Franziska murmured, but it came out uncertain rather than disdainful.

Phoenix looked at Mia for permission to put it on. She made her way to the boys and found Phoenix's final gift, a bracelet she'd spent care and time on hunting up after Maya showed her the magatama, and showed him a way to attach it so he could wear it as a bracelet.

Naturally Diego immediately began testing the magatama's efficacy by lying to Phoenix with a straight face. "Okay, kitten, how about this. My favourite colour is... blue."

Phoenix immediately reached over to hold up Diego's favourite coffee mug smugly and then smiled triumphantly as, apparently, something happened that only he could see. _Works, _he signed, and then _Thank you _to Maya with a shy smile.

She made sure to pull Phoenix aside that evening before they settled in to watch a movie before bed. Movies were a tradition for Friday nights these days, as well as a tradition for any holiday evening, and Maya had been eager to get the kittens started watching horror movies- her and 'Ziska's argument over the premise for _The Ring_ had been entertaining. Maya maintained that anyone crawling out of a TV screen at a rate of approximately one centimetre an hour was not very threatening, as you had time to go to the store, buy a baseball bat, come back and _beat _the girl to death with it long before she became an issue.

"Phoenix," Mia started, as Miles hovered anxiously in the doorway to their room. She'd have asked him for privacy but it seemed unthinkingly mean. Besides, there was no harm in Miles hearing this too. Phoenix tilted his head, the way he usually indicated a question, and she looked straight into his eyes as she spoke, clearly and carefully. "Neither Diego nor I are ever going to hurt you. At least, not intentionally. All right?"

He immediately looked away and fiddled with his bracelet nervously. Since this was exactly the reaction she'd been hoping for Mia waited patiently. A moment later, his eyes widened and he looked back up at her quickly. She grinned reassuringly.

She was caught by surprise when he hugged her.

Phoenix was still shy about physical contact. While he was all right if it was between him and Miles, he tended to be frightened if Diego leaned in to pat him on the shoulder, if Maya hugged him, if Mia ruffled his hair (really, those spikes were far too tempting). Even as Mia returned the embrace, she could feel him trembling slightly.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Phoenix," she repeated, murmuring, because it was obvious he needed to hear it again. He leaned back a little in her arms and searched her face before nodding. "Merry Christmas, kitten." She released him and steered him gently towards his room and Miles before retiring for the night herself.

Mia had learned Phoenix's birthday back when they'd defended him. It was hard to learn the other's birthdays, and she didn't think they were about to _tell_ her, so when Phoenix's came she and Diego threw a party for all three of them. Then they included Maya, and then themselves, because that lessened protests considerably. Selfish to have a celebration for yourself- cruel to keep someone else from celebrating.

It was cute, if a little heartbreaking, to see 'Ziska and Miles' stunned faces when they came down to the kitchen for breakfast and saw the cakes, the balloons, Maya's homemade banner strung from the ceiling. Phoenix came downstairs yawning a little while later since he'd taken to sleeping in later and later as he learned that no one would object or wake him. He lit up at seeing the house decked out, smiling as he sheepishly ruffled the back of his hair. The magatama caught the light and glinted green as he did so. Mia smiled into her coffee cup at the sight. Despite her initial misgivings, because however slight they'd been she'd had them, the magatama had proved to be very good for Phoenix. He'd been noticeably happier since receiving it.

Of course, this had the added benefit of making Miles happier as well.

Pesu ran to Phoenix and barked until the man laughed silently, transforming his face, and knelt to scratch the dog's ruff. Pesu licked Phoenix's hand and wagged his tail enthusiastically.

Once everyone was seated around the table (on badly mismatched chairs, since two of the original four had been sacrificed to the backyard and they'd ended up needing more anyway) Diego raised his mug with a smug grin. "Happy birthday, kittens."

"Foolish fool," Franziska said softly, gazing at her clasped hands rather than the table spread with birthday cakes (and who buys a cake a _person_, anyway?) in front of her. "It is hardly my birthday."

"But it _is_ Phoenix's," Maya pointed out, cheerfully.

"Right. And since no one's let the alphas 'round here know when any of your birthdays really are, couldn't pass up the opportunity to celebrate all at once." Diego rocked the chair back on two legs as he took a long gulp of coffee.

Miles frowned. "You can't expect us to believe you don't know each other's dates of birth."

"You can't expect us to not get in on the fun," Diego countered, for which Miles could find no argument.

"I should be at work," Franziska said, not raising her eyes from the table. It was only a half-hearted protest at best, though. To her continual shock, Mia had developed a foolish habit of calling her in sick whenever she was likely to overwork herself. Her secretary had become fast friends with the elder Fey girl and was perfectly willing to aid in this.

Hannah, Mia reflected, could very well see that the prodigy was still a young girl.

Having to share a room with Maya had also forced Franziska to adapt. She'd never had to share much before, that much was obvious, and unlike her 'little brothers' she was especially unused to sharing a bedroom. Mia had finally managed another bed for the house when it became clear that Maya was staying long enough to warrant more than a sleeping bag on the floor. The room, never very large by a von Karma's standards, was cramped with two teenage girls sharing it.

_What are we doing today?_ Phoenix signed curiously as Diego handed him a mug of coffee. Franziska and Miles still preferred tea but it had been easy enough to lure Phoenix over to the literal dark side. Well, close to it, anyway- he wouldn't drink it black, he took his coffee with a ridiculous amount of sugar, but even Diego only made a few joking attempts to convince him to try it black.

"Besides stuffing ourselves sick on cake and ice cream, and cluttering up the house with gifts we don't actually have room for?" Mia grinned, then took her time over her next bite of breakfast as the kittens all tried not to look as though the suspense was getting to them. Phoenix at least was failing.

Mia's grin grew as Maya, unable to contain herself any longer, burst out, "We're going to the circus!"

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my," Diego drawled, smirking. None of the younger lawyers appeared to catch the reference though. That was a shame. Mia wasn't very fond of _The Wizard of Oz _herself, but maybe she could introduce them to the _Tin Man _miniseries one weekend.

Phoenix started to sign a question and then stopped, confused. His sign language wasn't quite up to expressing _circus. _He hesitated before mouthing _What circus?_ and Mia frowned, hiding it behind her coffee mug. She'd never seen him do that before. Now that she'd noticed, she wondered why not. She'd learned from Franziska that Phoenix had known _no_ real sign language before he was fifteen. Until then he'd scraped by with the series of signs and expressions he and Miles had cobbled together. She couldn't imagine any reason he _wouldn't _have had occasion to mouth words during that time.

"It's a really big circus," Maya said enthusiastically, cutting into Mia's thoughts. She looked happy to be able to understand Phoenix. As much as Maya liked Phoenix, she didn't often get to talk to him, not having taken to sign language very well. Undoubtedly she'd get the hang of it eventually but until then Phoenix didn't have any way to talk to her. Well, other than writing, Mia supposed- but come to think of it she'd never actually seen him pick up a pen. Not once.

That struck her as _extremely _odd.

"It's really cool," Maya continued. "They have acrobats and a magician and a ventriloquist and an animal tamer!"

Miles looked up sharply, eyes narrowing, and Mia felt the first faint stirrings of misgiving.

They seemed to be unfounded, at least at first. After breakfast (and some cake) they all piled into Diego's car. They were slightly short on room, but his car sat three in both front and back, so although it was a tight fit there were at least enough seatbelts to go around. Mia couldn't stand the thought of losing anyone to something as stupid as a car accident and was always adamant about wearing the belts.

They arrived in time to watch some of the set-up. Maya and the kittens were utterly enthralled through the magic, the ventriloquism, the clowning around and the acrobatics. The animal tamer was up last, a girl that _couldn't_ be older than Maya and 'Ziska, and Mia watched the boys carefully throughout the act. About halfway into it Miles started to shift uncomfortably. The anxious looks he shot at Phoenix whenever the other man wasn't paying attention made it clear enough what he was having problems with, and she could hardly address the issue in the midst of a crowded circus tent, so she relaxed and kept one eye on Phoenix. He was happily oblivious. Clearly the connections Miles was drawing hadn't occurred to him.

She wasn't entirely certain whether that was a good or bad thing.

She watched in the rear-view mirror on the way back as Phoenix signed enthusiastically. She could only catch about one word of it in ten but the gist of it seemed to be that he'd enjoyed himself. Miles smiled and signed back swiftly.

There was still a gift exchange to come, but the highlight of the day had been the circus. There wasn't much in the way of gifts and a great many of them were practical- new shoes, a hammock for the backyard, a divider for Maya and 'Ziska's room, a new bed for Pesu (might as well celebrate his birthday too, after all).

Miles came stumbling into the kitchen very late that night, startling Mia, who had woken up and had been helping herself to a guilty slice of cake. His eyes widened when he saw her and he turned to leave again.

"Miles, wait," Mia said. "Come have some cake with me. I can't get to sleep; some company would be nice."

He hesitated in the doorway. Then his shoulders slumped and he turned around and joined her at the table.

She cut a slice of cake for Miles and then for several long minutes there was no sound but forks hitting plates. Finally, when she couldn't take the sight of Miles gazing distantly at his plate anymore, Mia started to clear her throat before thinking better of it. "Miles," she began instead.

He looked up at her but didn't say anything.

Mia paused, but only for a moment. The best way to get answers was to ask questions, after all. "I didn't notice this before, but... Why is it that Phoenix only ever _signs_ things? He could write, or mouth words- yet with the exception of earlier today I've never seen him do either one of those things."

The flinch was almost imperceptible. If she hadn't been looking for it she never would have seen it. He looked away and gripped his arm, then raised his eyes to meet hers. She could see he was being honest as he replied, "I don't know." Then he looked away again. "He... won't tell me."

She winced inwardly. That set alarm bells ringing. "Has he _always_ done that?"

"No," Miles replied softly, and sliced bits of his cake apart with his fork.

Mia waited, and when he didn't continue, said, "I haven't even seen him write in court. I would think that there, if nowhere else, he'd pick up a pen.'

Miles shook his head. "He won't. I don't know why not." He stabbed at the cake viciously. "He refuses to tell me why," he repeated, unhappily. "And I'm sure you can imagine how difficult it is to learn something about Phoenix that he won't tell you."

"Thanks for being honest with me." She watched him push the cake away, giving up on it. He stood and made his way to the doorway. Just before he left the room, without thinking about it, Mia said, "Good night, Miles. Love you."

He froze in the doorway a moment. Mia's eyes widened slightly as she realized what she'd said.

Looking at Miles, though... She may not have meant to _say_ it, but she _meant_ it. She _did _love him, and Phoenix, and Franziska. Slowly they'd gone from acquaintances to roommates to friends to _family_.

Miles didn't say anything back, he merely paused briefly on his way out of the room, but he didn't need to. She doubted he was quite up to admitting anything like that yet anyway. There were other things she'd like to say to him- _You are a very bright young man, you are like a little brother to me, I am very proud of you- _but there would be a time for all of them and that time was not now.

Mia washed her plate and fork and went to join Diego in their room.

When she saw Miles in the morning, shortly before they all left for work- except for 'Ziska, whose hours were different- he didn't mention the night before. Nor did she bring it up herself.

After that, though, she could see a change in Miles. He was a little more relaxed. He was a little less wary, a little less skittish. All the kittens had started off very skittish, Phoenix more than the other two, but they were slowly getting better. She doubted any of them would ever be completely comfortable around other people but it was a start. That was really as much as she could hope for.

Even more promising, it was slowly becoming possible to persuade Phoenix to go in to work _without Miles_ and vice versa. . Diego was quietly ecstatic- Phoenix could be persuaded to join him perusing case files and prospective clients on the couch while playing old cartoons on the office TV, while Miles still refused to do such a thing. Mia sighed as she swivelled her chair at her desk, unable to concentrate on her files, and listened to "When criminals in this world appear and break the laws that they should fear and frighten all who see or hear the cry goes up both far and near ...for _lawyers_!"

Smiling to herself at Diego's antics, and the almost-silent laughter she could hear from Phoenix as a result of them, Mia stopped the chair from spinning by hooking her foot against the bookcase and leaned back.

It seemed like a silly thing to worry about. Most... foster mothers, or surrogate sisters, or whatever role she'd managed to land herself in were happy if their charges didn't fight with each other. It worried her though. 'Ziska at least bickered and occasionally fought with Maya. Phoenix and Miles never fought with anyone. Miles rarely so much as protested Diego's suggestions, even the ones he clearly disagreed with. Phoenix never did.

_I hope they're not afraid to_. Because it had occurred to Mia, as she checked on the kittens during the night (and she _knew _Miles wasn't getting enough sleep, she _knew_) that neither of the boys would have ever argued or fought under von Karma's care.

Mia didn't know what to do about that. What she _could_ help with, though, was getting the boys used to going out without each other. They couldn't put Phoenix on a case alone, as badly as she wanted to- there were not a great many people who knew sign language, meaning that it ranged from extremely difficult to downright impossible for Phoenix to ask witnesses about a case. It made Mia uneasy when Phoenix merely went for a walk by himself- _it's not like he can call for help if anything happens, _went her anxious reasoning- and when _she _was uneasy _Miles_ was a wreck. Mia had to hold onto him to prevent him running out the door after Phoenix more than once and that was without Phoenix ever actually leaving their sight. He made an effort to stay where he was visible from the window out of deference to Miles.

"I'm taking him to visit Kurain," Mia said at last, decisively, to her bookshelf. Diego might have heard her if he weren't still enthusiastically filking the lyrics to the Underdog theme song ("Speed of lightning, roar of lions, witnesses insist on lying!"). Since he was, he didn't, but she kept addressing the wall anyway. Mia had always maintained that talking to yourself was a healthy form of stress relief. "Maya needs to go back for a bit anyway. I can't keep her entirely caught up with her training here. Phoenix, you should come with-" -not that he could hear her over Diego's singing either- "I don't think Miles or 'Ziska would enjoy Kurain very much but I think you'd like it there."

When she explained this idea to them later that night, when she actually had their attention, Phoenix was slightly skittish about going to a strange place while Miles stayed behind but curious and willing to go. To Mia's great relief Diego convinced Miles not to go by pointing out that the two of them were needed to run the law office while Mia was gone with Maya and Phoenix.

Phoenix found he didn't sleep very well the night before the trip.

He'd hoped to get a full night's sleep since he wasn't sure how much sleep he'd be able to get once they were in Kurain. Miles wasn't coming, after all, and he'd shared a room with Miles since they were nine. Well, all right, he'd had his own room at Miles' house but he'd very rarely _slept_ in it. It had never really felt like it was _his_.

He lay awake and stared at the ceiling for a long time, his hands behind his head, Pess draped over his legs, listening to the sounds of Miles falling asleep and waking up and falling asleep and waking up over and over again. Miles had done that almost every night since Phoenix could remember. He had never said anything about it and Phoenix had never been able to find a way to ask. That, he felt, was one of the major failings of sign language- it was impossible to be anything but blunt. It drove him crazy. Well, that and the rarity of finding someone who actually _understood _what he was trying to say. He loved that in this home, almost everyone understood him, or at least tried to. He revelled in being able to ask a question and receive an answer. Before, he'd only been able to truly hold a conversation with Miles, and rarely Franziska.

It was true that Miles at least almost always knew what he was trying to say, but even he sometimes misinterpreted Phoenix's hand signals and the resulting confusion was always difficult to muddle through. Phoenix's brows knotted together as he remembered the hospital and the first nights in Germany, when Miles had outright pleaded with him to _try_, try just a little harder, try just a little longer, just try and _say _something.

He'd tried, too. For Miles' sake he'd tried. Phoenix didn't _like _making the attempt- it never worked, and he'd learned quickly enough that it wasn't going to, and it only served to remind him that this was something everyone else did as easily as breathing and with as little thought and _he_ would never be able to do it- but he kept trying because he realised Miles thought it was his fault and Phoenix had been completely unable to convince him otherwise. How could he, when he was still learning how to express himself without words?

After a long time Phoenix had stopped trying. Miles had stopped asking him to.

Phoenix did fall asleep eventually and fell straight into a dream that was more than half memory and all nightmare.

He wasn't sure where Miles was, but it wasn't _here_. He wasn't sure why Manfred von Karma was mad at him, but he _was_. Phoenix pressed as close to the wall and as far from Manfred as he dared and bit his lip to keep from whimpering. Manfred would see that as a sign of weakness, he knew, and signs of weakness were inexcusable in the von Karma household.

"Boy," said Manfred, and Phoenix's legs trembled and nearly refused to hold him, because he knew that tone of voice from when he was very young. "Boy, I have seen you, at dinner and at study, moving that mouth of yours. Trying to speak." He stepped closer and Phoenix wanted to close his eyes but didn't dare. Manfred towered over him as he said, "You should not play at things that are beyond you, boy. Speech is clearly no longer meant for you. Attempt it again... and I will see to it that there are consequences."

He leaned back again, and then turned and left, as Phoenix swallowed hard and felt black leather shift around his neck.

"Phoenix!" He heard Miles' frantic whisper as his friend came trotting up at last. He didn't run, no one ran in the house, but he was as close as he could get. "I was looking for- Are you all right?"

He opened his mouth to answer, and then slowly shut it again without mouthing anything, and nodded instead.

Miles looked at him uncertainly. "Phoenix-" he started, and his voice blurred into Diego's voice, and Phoenix woke up abruptly to Diego leaning over him with a smile.

"Hey, it's time to get up, kitten," he said as he straightened up. "Wouldn't want you to miss the train."


	7. Seven

**Disclaimer:** At some point since writing this I noticed that of the six people living in my house, four of us actually have a private sign language developed. None of us have a reason for it except that it makes private conversation easier. It's funny when there's one person in the room who doesn't understand what we're signalling to each other.

* * *

**Without Wings**

**VII.**

* * *

There was hardly any need to pack. The two Feys still had plenty of their own belongings in Kurain, and Phoenix simply didn't own very much. Mia had already packed most of their belongings before Diego came to wake Phoenix, so after they determined that Firebrand was going to Kurain with them (since Miles had Pesu at the house and the pup had taken very strongly to him and Phoenix) Diego dropped them off at the train station.

Somewhere into half an hour through the train ride Mia was weighing it against her first trial and trying to determine which was winning as far as how long it had seemed to drag on. At the moment she truly wasn't sure. Normally it didn't seem very long at all. She _liked_ trains, after all, and there was usually the prospect of seeing her little sister at the end of the ride so she didn't mind.

Maya was asleep on the seat across from them though, sprawling as best she could on the hard surface, and Phoenix was staring fixedly out the window after Mia had switched seats with him because the man sitting across the aisle had been extremely persistent as he tried to engage Phoenix in conversation. Finally Mia had been forced to quietly say, "He's mute," to which the stranger had reacted unnecessarily loudly. He'd managed to briefly draw the attention of the entire train car to them. Luckily no one deemed this interesting enough to pay attention for longer than a few seconds, but by then the damage had been done.

There was still an hour and a half to go, too. Mia sighed and dug a book out from her shoulder bag. She didn't care much for purses, it was too easy for a purse to get stolen or left behind, but for a trip like this she'd wanted to be able to pack books and music. She murmured Phoenix's name to get his attention and slid him one of the books she'd brought. "Ever read Shakespeare?" she asked quietly, although since Shakespeare had never to her knowledge written legal briefs she suspected she already knew the answer.

Sure enough, Phoenix shook his head. He accepted the book from her and opened it to the first page. Mia watched as he read the first page, smiling, until he looked up and grinned at her. He was clearly enjoying it. She'd given him _Twelfth Night _to read- she had Hamlet with her as well, having always preferred it, but that would have been unthinkingly cruel.

"It's even better as a play," Mia assured him, as she leaned back against her seat and shifted to rest her feet on Maya's seat. Not incidentally this also blocked their compartment from the aisle. "You'd probably like Romeo and Juliet, too, come to think of it. You and Miles both. It's pretty good if you catch the intended meanings." She smiled fondly at that, recalling having gone over each part of the play with Lana one night. Really, Shakespeare had a filthy mind.

Once she was sure Phoenix was well into the play, Mia settled back herself with her Discman. She supposed she could have bought an mp3 player some time ago now but the Discman had sentimental value. Besides, it worked just fine.

She couldn't sleep- she'd be too worried about Phoenix, and Maya too, to even keep her eyes closed- but there was nothing stopping her from meditating. She'd learned long ago to meditate with her eyes open and it would be easy enough to snap back out of a light trance at the first sign of trouble.

As she'd hoped the remainder of the train ride went much quicker. She woke Maya and they got off at the foot of Kurain Mountain. Phoenix started to hand her book back, but she told him to keep it. She fiddled with the sleeve of the sweatshirt he was wearing, folding it down over the magatama bracelet, before they started up the path.

"Don't let Aunt Morgan see your magatama," Maya warned, trotting alongside Phoenix. She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, a subconscious gesture Mia had seen both Phoenix and Franziska unknowingly copy more than once. "Pearly and I weren't really supposed to give it to you so she might be kinda mad if she sees it."

Phoenix looked momentarily surprised, and grateful, but quickly masked the expression and nodded.

"There's a bus we could take, and it goes right to the village," Mia explained as they picked their way up the path. Phoenix started darting nervous glances to the edges of the path as they climbed higher and looked longingly at the road that wound up the mountain much more sedately. "I always liked climbing up this way, though. And the train's more comfortable than the bus," she added thoughtfully.

Phoenix slipped the book into the pocket of his (well, Diego's, but he probably wasn't getting it back anytime soon) sweatshirt to have both hands free.

For once Maya caught on before Mia did. "Don't like heights, huh?" she asked sympathetically and Phoenix shook his head in reply. Before Mia could say anything Maya caught his hand and pulled him after her. "Then come on! I didn't use to like them either, but there's something up ahead that made me get over that fear!"

"Hey, don't get too far ahead!" Mia called as Maya pulled Phoenix into a stumbling run.

When they were almost to the top Maya stopped suddenly, letting Phoenix catch his breath, and pointed. "Here! Look!"

He looked up, and his eyes widened, because from where they were standing there was a spectacular view from the mountainside out over the lands below. As often as she'd seen it Mia still found it breathtaking.

"I used to play here when I was little," Maya said.

Mia rubbed her forehead. "Maya, don't tell me that. Please." Phoenix chuckled silently at that. He still hung back cautiously, understandably, since the drop was impressive, but he soaked in the view eagerly and finally relaxed.

"Come on," Mia said at last. "We still have to get to the village. We can always come back."

"You gotta see it at sunset," Maya said happily. Thoughtfully she added, "Or sunrise," and it was Mia's turn to laugh at Phoenix's expression.

"Come on, Sis, he's just started sleeping in," she teased as they turned to make their way into the village. "No need to be getting him up at dawn."

Phoenix smiled sheepishly as he followed them.

Aunt Morgan was waiting for them in the village, standing beside the phone booth with Pearl. This was unusual. It made Mia apprehensive, as well, because while she'd explained about Phoenix as best as she could over the phone and Maya had told Pearls about the kittens when she'd been back to Kurain previously their aunt had a way of hearing only what suited her. Mia felt she had ample reason to be apprehensive over Phoenix's reception.

Her aunt wasted no time in proving her fears well-founded.

Paying little attention to Maya and Mia, she immediately stepped forward and looked Phoenix over peremptorily. Phoenix shrank back under her stern gaze and looked to Mia for help but there was only the space of a moment before Aunt Morgan was holding out her hand and narrowing her eyes. "Boy," and at that form of address Phoenix flinched noticeably, and Mia stored the reaction in the back of her mind, "I am Morgan Fey. You will address me as Mystic Morgan, just as you will address my nieces as Mystic Mia and Mystic Maya, and my daughter as Mystic Pearl. Do you understand?"

Phoenix started to raise his hands to sign an answer and an introduction but Morgan cut him off with a sharp gesture. "Out _loud_, boy."

At that Mia stepped in front of Phoenix protectively. "Aunt Morgan, this is Phoenix Wright. I already told you about him over the phone. Remember?" She met her aunt's eyes and didn't waver. The older woman looked away first, crossing her arms and huffing in aggravation. Phoenix moved hesitantly behind Mia just as Pearl peered out from behind her mother and Mia's demeanour softened immediately. Crouching instinctively, causing Phoenix to back up slightly from Morgan, she beckoned to the little girl. "Pearls, come on over here and meet Phoenix," she said gently as Morgan left in a huff. Pearl darted a single nervous glance after her and then ran to bury her head into Mia's embrace.

Mia laughed softly as she hugged her cousin, then swung her around and set her down facing Phoenix. "Phoenix, this is my cousin, Pearls. Say hi, Pearly."

"Hullo, Phoenix," Pearl said shyly, ducking her head.

_Hello_, Phoenix signed as he knelt too. He looked from Pearl to Mia uncertainly.

"He said hello," Mia explained to Pearl softly. The little girl looked between them just as Phoenix had done, then tentatively approached Phoenix. For his part Phoenix stayed very still, unused to small children and even more unused to such sheltered small children as Pearl was.

So he was just as startled as Mia herself was when Pearl hugged him, repeating, "Hullo, Phoenix." Without letting go she looked up at Mia and added, "Is he going to be Mystic Maya's special someone?"

Maya giggled and Mia couldn't help a smile herself. "No, Pearly. Phoenix already has a special someone." Unlike Miles, Phoenix did not protest this statement, but then it was very rare for Phoenix to protest anything.

_Can't do anything about that I'm not already trying to do_, Mia thought resignedly and stood up, and Phoenix after her, with Pearl clinging stubbornly to his pant leg. It seemed he drew the same affection from children that he did from animals.

_Probably because they can all tell Phoenix would never hurt anyone, _Mia thought to herself, and the thought was tinged with sadness. Maya led them all towards the Fey Manor as one of the village's cats joined the procession, following after Phoenix with his tail held high at a jaunty angle. Phoenix had gotten Pearl perched on his shoulders, holding her carefully, and didn't seem to be feeling any lingering hurt from his introduction to Morgan. Mia was grateful for that.

There were two rooms set up for them already in the manor- the one Maya and Mia had shared as little girls, and that more recently had become Maya's domain alone, and a smaller guest room beside it. It was small, and bare, and hadn't been used for much more than storage in nearly all the time Mia could recall, and she sighed when she saw it.

On the one hand, she could hardly leave Phoenix to try and sleep in a strange small room by himself. On the other it also wasn't right to have him sleep in their room like a small child or a wayward puppy.

In the end she compromised by telling Phoenix to come wake her at any time during the night. It was hardly an ideal solution but she couldn't see that there _was _such a solution.

The rest of the day passed quickly, with Maya and Pearls convincing Phoenix to follow them all over the mountainside and showing him all their favourite places with no coaxing on Mia's part. Most of them, like the place they'd stopped on the way up and went back to watch the sunset at, were places Mia had long been familiar with as well.

Others she hadn't been aware of, such as the way the seemingly impenetrable stand of trees near the waterfall could be squirmed into from one side to reveal a clearing in the middle. It had all the marks of having been a kind of clubhouse for the younger girls for many years. There was an old rug, much battered, in the middle of the clearing, as well as broken bits of furniture to sit on. Mia recognized them as the deck chairs she'd thought thrown out years ago.

Pearls whispered something to Phoenix and he smiled shyly. Mia smiled, too, to see her cousin and her- friend, or charge, or little brother, or all three- drawing each other out of their shells.

There was absolutely no reason to have Maya start her training back up that first day they were there and so she didn't. Instead she spent the day leading Phoenix and Pearl around, both the girls eager to show Phoenix everything they could. Pearls laughed more and more as the day went on and relaxed more around Phoenix with every hideaway and lookout they showed him. It helped that Phoenix looked on each discovery with wide-eyed wonder and clear happiness.

Mia laughed herself at the look on his face when they all snuck off to the old tree house, carefully hidden from Aunt Morgan. It was only accessible through a convoluted path that involved traipsing carefully across a fallen tree trunk over a stream and several easily climbed cliff faces. The girls had all walked this path from a young age without thinking twice about it, but Mia bit her lip as she watched Phoenix creep carefully along the mossy trunk.

It seemed like no time at all before the sun was sinking in the sky and they made their slow way back to the village. Aunt Morgan was waiting for them, giving Mia and Phoenix a stern glance before hurrying Pearl off to sleep. Mia ignored it. Phoenix, thankfully, didn't seem to notice as he waved good-bye to Pearls happily.

"C'mon," Mia said to Phoenix and Maya. "We should get some sleep. Maya's gotta get up early tomorrow. And Phoenix, you're welcome to join us, but don't let us stop you from sleeping in. Okay?"

Phoenix nodded and signed, _This was a good day_.

Mia smiled. "And we have more ahead of us."

Settling into her old room, Maya on the futon across from her, Mia sighed as she wondered whether this had been the good idea it originally seemed. Certainly the visit was good for Pearls, and Maya really did have training to catch up to, but had it been right of her to bring Phoenix here?

"Sis?"

She looked up and saw Maya chewing her lower lip worriedly.

"Yes, Maya?"

"If you wake up and I'm not here, I just went to check on Phoenix. All right?" Maya fiddled with the edge of her blanket. "I don't think he's had a room to himself since he was just a little kid…."

And Maya was used to sharing rooms, too, Mia reflected. They'd shared one growing up and Maya seemed very happy rooming with Franziska. "That's fine, Maya. That's really nice of you. Just don't startle Phoenix, all right?"

"'Course not."

The next room over, Phoenix was sprawled on his back on his futon, arms pillowed behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. One of the village cats had somehow made its way into his room and was curled contentedly at his side. He was glad of it; he didn't think he'd have coped well without some other living presence in the room with him. Firebrand helped, but it wasn't the same. The last time he'd slept alone was…. He resolutely shut that memory out. It wasn't anything he wanted to revisit.

Unfortunately, and as many people before Phoenix have discovered, very few people have as much control over dreams and memories as they'd like.

Phoenix tossed and twisted for a long while before dragging his futon over to the corner, up against the wall Maya and Mia slept on the other side of. He curled up as small as he could with his back to the wall and the cat settled lightly on top of his side.

When that didn't work he got up, moved the futon, and went back to the same position on the floor. The cat grumbled a bit at all the moving about, but finally settled down again. Phoenix shut his eyes and pet the cat gratefully.

He finally did fall asleep in that slightly awkward position. Some time later, when he was tossing and turning in the midst of a half-formed dream, a noise on the edge of his consciousness brought him suddenly wide awake.

He froze, then forced himself to relax and pace his breathing. To a casual observer he would still seem to be asleep. Phoenix's mind raced; someone was definitely in the room with him. Calling for help, obviously, was not and never had been an option.

That didn't leave him a lot of choices.

Not for the first time that night, Phoenix wished there was more light in the room. Some faint light crept in from outside through a small window, but it wasn't enough to see more than a vague outline of a person when he cracked his eyes open a little.

A hand landed lightly on his shoulder.

Phoenix cringed away, squeezing his eyes shut. The cat opened its eyes and stretched, glaring balefully all the while.

Quietly, Maya said, "Phoenix?"

He opened one eye again. He saw Maya hovering over him, concerned, very nearly protective. He relaxed a little bit.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Maya continued once she had his attention. She still spoke softly. "I just couldn't sleep, and I thought maybe you couldn't either, so I came in here and thought maybe we could at least keep each other company while we're not falling asleep?" She smiled sheepishly, and Phoenix finally relaxed entirely. Well, as much as he ever did around people that weren't Miles, anyway.

He looked at Maya, biting her lip and looking hopeful, and nodded once before pulling himself to a sitting position. The cat immediately resettled itself in his lap and resumed sleeping contentedly. A smile tugged at Phoenix's lips as he pet the cat again.

Maya's face lit up. "Hey! So _that's_ where Mowgli went! I've been looking for him, you know," she added reproachfully. "Usually he sleeps in my room."

Phoenix grinned uncertainly.

Maya waved away any concern he had, though. "I'm glad he's in here; he also usually wakes me up real early by attacking my feet and yowling to be fed." She made a face. "All yours, Phoenix. He's _all _yours."

Phoenix made a gesture he hoped expressed _gee, thanks_. Maya laughed, so he thought he got his point across.

He was wide awake now. He shifted around, sitting up and leaning against the wall, pulling the blanket around him and then gesturing Maya to come sit next to him. That dislodged Mowgli again, but the cat seemed content to keep climbing back onto Phoenix to sleep.

Phoenix was a little surprised and a little wary when Maya sat as close as possible and leaned against him, but it was Maya. He trusted Maya. Well, all right, he wouldn't trust her with his dinner or his wallet but other than that. He shifted a little so that they could both get more comfortable.

For a little while they sat in silence. Phoenix was okay with that, and in fact had shut his eyes and attempted to go to sleep again (hopefully without dreams this time), but Maya broke the quiet by blurting out, "My mom left when I was just a kid."

Opening his eyes again slowly, Phoenix shook a strand of hair out of his face and blinked at her, inviting her to continue. When it became clear Maya didn't see him in the faint light he sighed, tilted his head and made a _go on?_ kind of gesture.

"She… got called into a murder investigation, and asked to channel…" Maya's voice trailed off, and she shook her head. "I don't really wanna get into it. But, anyway!" Her voice suddenly became far cheerier. "What I was getting at was that, I only ever really had Sis as far as family went."

Phoenix noted she didn't mention her aunt or cousin, but couldn't figure out a way to bring it up.

"Now, though," Maya continued, "It isn't just me and Sis anymore! First she met Diego, and then she adopted you and Miles, and Franziska-" The teenager laughed. "I finally feel like I've got a real family. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Dazed, Phoenix was still wondering if he should be worried (or insulted by) the 'adoption' comment- they were grown men, thanks very much- but that concern was overridden by confusion. Maya was _thanking_ him for the way her family had taken them in? He didn't even know how to react to that.

Wondering was letting Maya ramble on without giving him a chance to catch up, though. He tuned back in just in time to hear, "Hey, Phoenix? Did you ever have a nickname?"

Leaning back against the wall, Phoenix nodded and signed, _When I was a kid. _

"I, uh, kind of can't see what you're signing."

Sighing, Phoenix placed one of her hands on top of his and started signing again, slowly. Maya pulled her hands away almost immediately.

"That won't work either, Phoenix, I just don't know sign language that well yet." She sounded uncomfortable.

There didn't seem to be any other way to communicate this, no matter how many angles he looked at it from. Hesitantly Phoenix started tracing letters on the back of Maya's hand.

Furrowing her brows, Maya concentrated hard, only to light up when he finished and sat back expectantly. "Nick! Your nickname is Nick?"

Nodding, Phoenix grinned.

"And I can call you Nick?"

He nodded furiously again. Maya squealed and hugged him abruptly- and this time, somewhat to his own surprise, Phoenix didn't cringe away from the sudden contact. "All right then, Nick it is!"

A little surprised at how good it felt to hear that ancient nickname, Phoenix smiled and leaned back against the wall, ready to drop off to sleep at last. Until Maya interrupted him again, anyway.

"Hey, Nick?"

A pained look did not deter her at all.

"What is it you sign for Mia's name? I can't make it out and it's been driving me crazy."

Even more reluctantly than before, Phoenix traced letters on her hand. This had to be the most aggravating form of communication he'd come to yet- and he'd gone through an awful lot of them.

"Chief, huh." Maya seemed satisfied with that when Phoenix confirmed it, finally shutting her eyes and dropping swiftly off to sleep. Phoenix did the same with a great sense of relief.


	8. Eight

**Disclaimer:** Ironically, I think I'm losing my voice to a cough at the moment. My birthday is tomorrow! For the first time in three years I actually get to celebrate it with family, on the real date and everything. That makes me really happy. And I applied for an editing job today, which also makes me happy. I don't think I'll get it- but I figured the worst they could do was turn me down, so why not?

* * *

**Without Wings**

**VIII.**

* * *

Mia was only a little surprised to wake up alone in her room the next morning. Stretching, she got up and went to knock on Phoenix's door, only to have it open from the other side before she could do so.

Her little sister peered out sheepishly, then squeaked out and shut the door. "Nick just fell asleep an hour or two ago- I don't wanna wake him."

"Nick?" Mia raised an eyebrow and Maya grinned.

"It's his nickname- hey, let's go somewhere more private and I'll tell you all about it, okay?" She gave her sister a very odd look, forestalling any questions.

"All right then, lead the way," Mia agreed, figuring she could skip breakfast for now. Maya was supposed to be fasting from daybreak today to nightfall tomorrow, anyway.

They didn't speak again until they were in the hidden clearing from the day before. Maya sat down on a tree stump and Mia, after inspecting the furniture, deciding on the ground as both safer and cleaner.

"He can't spell," Maya said abruptly. "Phoenix, I mean."

That left Mia speechless momentarily, before recovering and saying, "Well, the boys _were_ nine when they were taken overseas, I doubt they got to finish any conventional school-"

"He misspelled his own name."

Mia stopped talking.

"Twice," Maya added impatiently. "And he spelled it differently each time. _And _he misspelled Chief repeatedly, too."

She saw a point to press on there. "How'd you get him to _write_ anything? _Miles_ couldn't."

"I didn't, exactly," Maya admitted. "I got him to trace the letters on the back of my hand since I couldn't see him well in the dark, and then I insisted I couldn't make them out when I noticed the spelling."

Crossing her arms and leaning forward, Mia's eyes blazed as she demanded, "How do you know you didn't just mistake the letters?"

"Wrong number of letters," came the prompt response.

"Shorthand?"

"Not unless the shorthand version of Chief has a _k_ in it."

Mia let out an explosive breath and let her arms drop as she thought it over. Miles had said that refusing to write wasn't something Phoenix had always done. He'd neglected to mention exactly _when_ Phoenix had quit writing, though, which she hadn't realised before. Before she realised it, Mia started voicing her thoughts aloud. "We can guess he still wrote things down before everything happened, when they were still in school. So this would be something that happened after that. Well, there's the obvious 'thing that happened after that.' And- Phoenix lost his voice when…" She trailed off, realisation dawning. She felt sick as she wondered how much more of Phoenix's behaviour could be attributed to this, and then felt horrible for wondering such a thing.

"When _what_?" It was Maya's turn to lean eagerly forward.

"When prolonged oxygen deprivation affected his brain," Mia finished. Then she looked up sharply, eyes narrowing, at a quiet sound from the entrance of the grove.

Standing so still now that she wondered how long he'd been there, Phoenix looked her in the eye (which she abruptly realised was unusual), and signed, _Damaged_. Then he turned to leave.

"Phoenix, _wait_-" Both sisters scrambled after him.

When he stopped abruptly and whirled around, Mia was shocked to see tears glittering in his eyes. Phoenix wiped at them furiously and then started signing so quickly that she couldn't keep up. A glance at Maya showed she was totally lost as well.

Mia made out _Miles, tell, _and _don't_ before Phoenix turned to leave again. This time he ignored her when she called after him.

But when Maya said, "Nick?" tentatively, in a very subdued voice, he stopped again.

He looked at her, and then he looked at Mia, and his hands moved like he wanted to sign something for a moment before dropping back to his sides. Mia took the hint and slipped past him on the trail, letting her hand brush his shoulder as she passed. He didn't flinch.

When they were alone in the clearing Maya took her sister's spot on the ground and waved Nick over to the tree stump. Once he sat down she looked at him expectantly, cocked her head, and said cheerfully, "It's totally okay Nick, you know that, right?"

He shook his head jerkily.

To his surprise, Maya smiled. "'Course it is. You passed the bar exam, right?"

Cautiously, Phoenix nodded, blinking.

"So it's just language skills," Maya concluded, and laughed. "Man, Nick, you know how many people I've seen that can't spell _without_ that excuse? And anyway, your sign language is perfectly fine. Uh, as far as I know." She looked a little sheepish, then brightened. "Nick! Come with me, to my training! You can train too, _and_ you can teach me better sign language!"

A little bit stunned, Phoenix let himself be dragged after Maya as she raced to her training.

If he'd known that joining her meant standing under a freezing waterfall trying to teach sign language and fasting, he'd have been a little more wary.

A mountain hike and a lengthy train ride away, his best friend was also fervently wishing he'd thought things through a bit more. He hadn't had any idea that Detective Gumshoe was interested enough in Phoenix and himself to notice that Miles was subdued and Phoenix was mysteriously absent, much less that the good detective would show so much concern as to _follow him home._

Franziska was still at the office, entangled in paperwork from a recent difficult case. Diego was too busy being amused to be any help. Pesu was, well, a dog. Miles was on his own.

"I can't believe you live in a house full of lawyers, pal!" Gumshoe was gazing around with a great deal of interest. "This is amazing! Almost all the best lawyers in the districts live together, in one house here?"

"We have covered that, yes, Detective," Miles replied through gritted teeth.

"You're _all _lawyers?"

"Only when the moon is full," Diego called from the kitchen doorway as he emerged carefully cradling three mugs. He hand Miles a mug of tea, took a swig of coffee, and offered the third mug to Detective Gumshoe. "Oh, except Maya, that is. Coffee, Detective?"

"Gee, thanks, pal!" Gumshoe accepted the mug, took a deep gulp, and blanched.

"How is it?" Diego inquired lazily. "I'm afraid I've been brewing it black recently, what with Mia and Phoenix away. Miles and 'Ziska prefer tea, you see," he added with a mock-glare in Miles' direction. Miles inclined his head briefly in answer.

"It's…uh… it's great, pal," Gumshoe said weakly. He eyed the cup of coffee once more before setting it down carefully on an end table.

Muttering to himself under his breath, Miles fetched a coaster and put it under the mug, directing a scathing glare at Gumshoe.

For his part, the detective saw his chance.

A grumbling Miles left the room minutes later to change out of his coffee-stained clothes. Diego sat down on the sofa, leaned back, and raised an eyebrow at Gumshoe.

"He's been awfully distracted lately, pal," Gumshoe said immediately. "And, well, I have a good working relationship with the prosecutor's office. Ms. von Karma hasn't been concentrating well, either."

Diego set his coffee down and nodded. "Mia-kitten took Maya home for a bit and they brought Phoenix with to meet their cousin. The kittens are all pretty attached to each other- Miles is particularly stressed without Phoenix here." He eyed Gumshoe and started to grin. "Actually, Detective, I wonder if you could give me a hand with something…"

When Franziska came home that night, she only wanted to have a quick bite to eat and fall asleep. She stopped when she heard voices from the office. They had never really used the room- the others all shared an actual office and she had ample room in the prosecutor's office, so it had never really been necessary- so she wasn't at all sure why Diego and Miles would be in there now.

The door was ajar. Pushing it open revealed Miles sitting on a battered armchair in the corner, his head in his hands, as Diego and Detective Gumshoe chatted animatedly over the futon they were assembling.

Stunned, Franziska said the first thing that came to mind. "Diego, you cannot be foolish enough to think we can support yet _another_ roommate."

"'Course not, 'Ziska," Diego replied, "Detective Gumshoe here is only helping me set up a guest bedroom." He paused to eye the futon frame briefly. "And then staying here tonight. To test it out."

"To.. test…" Franziska trailed off, staring at the two of them, before turning to look at her little brother. Miles still hadn't said anything. Even now, he looked up at her once, shook his head, and buried his head in his hands again.

Franziska wondered why she bothered to leave the office it was only going to follow her home anyway.

Gumshoe spent the entire week Phoenix was away staying in the guest room. To the younger lawyers' surprise, having him there was a great deal of help. It cut into their sleep a bit, but the nights huddled around the kitchen table going over evidence and witnesses in current cases more than made up for it. Franziska wasn't entirely sure they should be sharing the investigations like this but it did do a great deal to ensure that they convicted the truly guilty party.

And, even if he didn't realise it himself, Miles was clearly far happier with Gumshoe there. She supposed it gave him less time to dwell foolishly on Phoenix's being on vacation.

Another thing that helped was that with Phoenix gone, Pesu had decided on Miles as alpha (much to Diego's disgust) and taken to following him everywhere.

By the time the absent lawyers (and Maya) did return, Miles had adjusted as well as could be expected to not having Phoenix around.

From the look of him as he raced Maya to the door the day they arrived home, signing something rapidly and laughing, the time away had done Phoenix a world of good as well. Maya, too, if her rapid signing back to Phoenix was any indication.

Mia didn't seem fazed at being greeted by Detective Gumshoe, nor did she seem concerned about his staying in their new guest room. Once Phoenix saw Miles he tried to hug him, only to have Pesu get in the way, the dog wagging his tail eagerly and barking at his returned friend. Diego handed out tea and coffee and herded everyone into the living room, where Franziska was gathering up the case files the three had been going over.

All told, it was exactly the kind of frenetic, happy homecoming Mia had always wished to see. She was smiling from ear to ear by the time she joined Diego and Gumshoe on the couch with coffee in hand.

"So how'd the vacation go?" Diego inquired.

Franziska glanced up from the armchair, expecting to hear- well, to hear Mia asking what Detective Gumshoe was doing there, she supposed. Miles glanced up from the floor beside Phoenix, expecting the same thing. Maya and Phoenix were still signing back and forth and didn't appear to care why Gumshoe was in their living room.

"Went great," Mia said brightly. "We all had a good time, Pearls was thrilled to meet Phoenix, Maya's up on both her training and her sign language, and she showed Phoenix some good things about heights while she was at it."

Phoenix cheerfully signed _Great view _to Miles at the look he got for this. Pesu barked and bounded between them, still wagging his tail, and then whined at Phoenix for attention.

"Pesu missed you," Miles muttered.

Maya gave him a _look_.

"…so did I."

_Missed you too_, Phoenix signed, and after petting Pesu to get the Pomeranian to calm down, finally got around to hugging Miles happily.

"Aw, you shoulda seen him, pal," Gumshoe put in. "Mr. Edgeworth sure mopes a lot when you're not around. I think the only thing I saw him eat was Diego's coffee. If that even counts."

"Uh, by the way," Maya said, "Detective Gumshoe, did you move in too?"

Franziska, at least, was a little bit alarmed that Maya seemed perfectly okay with that being exactly what had happened.

"Nah," Diego replied. "He's just been testing out the guest bedroom for the week."

"Guest bedroom?" Mia repeated, looking suspicious. "Diego, we don't _have_ a guest bedroom."

"Well, we weren't really using the office…"

Mia sighed.

"I'm going home tonight anyway," Gumshoe cut in hastily, looking as though he wished to avoid a confrontation. "Just, uh, thought some company would be helpful until you three came back. And now you are. Back, I mean."

"Thanks," Mia told him, with a warm smile. She didn't add anything else, but she didn't need to.

Detective Gumshoe did go home that night, leaving them with a vacant guest bedroom where the office used to be. Mia and Diego excused themselves soon after he left, and Phoenix and Miles headed for their room soon after that, Pesu following them.

Maya looked at Franziska, who had gone back to studying case files. "'Ziska?"

"Yes?" The other girl didn't look up, but the civilised reply was a far cry from the first night Maya had spent at the house.

"Wanna watch Steel Samurai with me?"

Franziska set the case files aside.

Upstairs, Phoenix was sprawled out on his stomach on the bed, lazily petting Pesu as Miles gazed at the ceiling beside him. After a while he said, "So you had a good time in Kurain?"

Phoenix glanced at him and nodded.

"You seem to be on far better terms with Maya."

Phoenix's smile grew a little, and he rolled onto his side so he could start signing, a little awkwardly from the angle he was at. _Joined her training, taught sign language. Had fun. _

Miles blinked. "You… joined her training?"

Gesturing at the magatama, since there was very definitely no way to sign that, Phoenix signed, _Works a lot better now. _

"Oh." Miles stayed quiet for a moment, not entirely sure what to say. Apparently thinking his friend was done with conversation for the night, Phoenix rolled back onto his stomach and went to sleep.

Miles envied him for that.


	9. Nine

**Disclaimer:** I have a full time job right now, y'all, so updates on... everything will be a lot slower. Frankly, when I have a day off I really want to laze around, and I have errands and all that fun stuff to do as well, and I do need to sleep sometime (like now). But I still intend to finish every story I've got going. It just uh, might take a while.

An' I have some mail to get to, I know, but like I said- been crazy busy. I'll catch up eventually.

Lastly: Any factual inaccuracies in this chapter are 'cause I'm mostly makin' this up as I go.

* * *

**Without Wings**

**IX.**

* * *

The trips to Kurain became a fairly regular thing after that. Roughly every other month, Maya, Mia and Phoenix packed up to spend anywhere from a few days to a week in the mountains. Every time, along with her spiritual strength, Maya's sign language got a little better. Phoenix always seemed far more relaxed when he returned, and with each trip he was less anxious about going away without Miles.

Even if he did tend to cling to him quite a bit whenever they returned.

Even if Detective Gumshoe did end up staying at their house every time Phoenix left.

It was still a bigger improvement than Mia, at least, had thought possible in so short a time.

"Miles does still tend to mope a lot while Phoenix is away, even now," Diego told her late one night. "Gumshoe noticed it, too, and he follows Miles around like a lost puppy whenever you three are away." He cocked his head at his partner. "I know it's good for Phoenix, but have you ever considered bringing Miles to Kurain?"

Propping herself up on one elbow, Mia shook her head. "No. That is, I considered it, but I don't think I could prevent a confrontation between him and Aunt Morgan. That would only end up hurting him. Phoenix she's ignored since that first visit, and he doesn't seem to notice; Miles I believe she would harass endlessly."

"But what about…"

Whatever Diego had been about to say was lost to a knock on the door. When it was followed swiftly by a second knock, then a pause, then a third knock, Mia called, "Come in, Phoenix."

Phoenix pushed the door open and walked in slowly. Diego glanced behind him almost automatically, expecting to see Miles or at least Pesu, and was a little surprised when he didn't. For Phoenix to be awake this late and not have Miles with him was still unusual.

Stopping just inside the door, Phoenix rubbed his throat and then signed, _Throat hurts. _

Mia got out of bed and approached him. Ever since starting the regular visits to Kurain Phoenix had at last quit flinching around her and Maya, although if Diego was upset Phoenix still avoided him.

He did take a quick step back when Mia reached towards his neck, though.

"Phoenix," she said soothingly. "It's fine, I just want to see why it hurts. What were you doing when it started hurting?"

_Eating_, he signed, letting her come closer again.

Still in the bed, Diego raised an eyebrow. "It's two in the morning, kitten, and you're not usually a night owl. How long has it been hurting?"

_A while_, Phoenix replied evasively, trying not to shy away as Mia laid her palm on his throat. He swallowed convulsively and then winced.

Mia frowned. "That hurt?" When Phoenix nodded in confirmation, her frown deepened. "Well, it's a bit late to do anything now. In the morning, though, I'm calling the hospital. I think this is something you should see a doctor about."

Phoenix's eyes widened and he started shaking his head rapidly.

Diego got out of bed, but didn't head towards Phoenix. Past experience had taught them that when he was upset, _any_ men but Miles coming near him made him jumpy, even if it was Diego or Detective Gumshoe.

"It'll be fine, kitten," he said, quietly, as Phoenix pivoted to face him. "Look, the doctor may say it isn't anything. But we'll come with just in case, yeah?"

Touching his magatama, Phoenix stared at Diego a moment, then nodded briskly before leaving. Mia thought she saw him brush the back of his hand across his eyes as he shut the door.

Mia sighed as she turned to get back into bed. "He still hates doctors."

"Well, think about it, love," Diego suggested as he joined her. "The kittens can't have heard anything _good_ from a doctor in, oh…probably ever."

In the morning, Diego and Miles kept the office open while Mia took Phoenix to the doctor.

She'd made sure to get him in to see a female doctor, seeing as he was already upset about having to go to the hospital at all. Dr. Pillai had been highly recommended. Now the woman sat back after examining his throat and said, "We'd have to do a laryngoscopy to know more detail, but this is what I can tell you right now." She waited for Phoenix to nod before continuing. Mia found herself smiling; that kind of consideration wasn't as common as she'd once thought.

The doctor looked straight at Phoenix as she said, "Your vocal cords are atrophied."

Mia felt the smile slide off her face.

Phoenix looked terrified as the doctor continued. "They're… well, they're pretty bad. Like I said, we can't know how bad without a laryngoscopy. But unless you're able to speak again sometime soon-" She paused, and Phoenix shook his head. The doctor sighed. "Damn. Sometimes it's more psychosomatic… but you'll have to get a laryngectomy. Get your vocal cords removed," she explained.

Phoenix's eyes widened again.

Dr. Pillai held both arms out wide and shrugged, shaking her head. "I'm very sorry, Phoenix. But if you don't get this operation, it will only become more difficult and painful to swallow, and eventually even to breathe."

Swallowing, and then rubbing his throat, Phoenix dropped his eyes and nodded.

"Hey, you don't have to agree to anything now," Dr. Pillai said, a little more gently. "Go home and think about it. But think _carefully_ about it, Phoenix, and consider what I've just told you."

He nodded again, sliding off the exam table and joining Mia.

As they turned to go, Dr. Pillai called after them.

"I expect to hear from you within the week!"

As soon as they went home Phoenix fled to the kitchen, where he started brewing tea before sitting at the table and tracing the wood grain with one finger. Mia followed him and let Pesu out for a run in the yard before joining Phoenix at the table.

"Phoenix, talk to me."

That earned her a hurt look before the young man returned to inspecting the table.

Mia sighed. "You know what I mean, Phoenix. We all know how to hear you. Even Maya's learning, now."

He didn't reply, just kept tracing the same pattern on the table until the tea was ready. He avoided Mia's eyes while he poured it, then trudged out of the room while still not acknowledging her.

Sighing, she put a call through to the office. "Diego? I think you should close up for the day."

His voice sounded strange over the line. She reflected that ever since they'd invited Phoenix and Miles to stay with them what felt like a lifetime ago, they hadn't been using phones very much. Anyone she wanted to talk to was usually around, and anyway everyone seemed to try to avoid them when Phoenix was in the room.

"No, it's nothing… well, it's nothing too serious. I think Phoenix should tell you himself… I'm sure he wants to let Miles know first."

By the time she hung up, Diego had agreed to drag Miles home early. She let Pesu back in and went in search of Phoenix again.

He wasn't in the living room, or the dining room, or the guest room, or the bathroom, or his room. She knew he couldn't have slipped past her into the yard. He wasn't in Maya and 'Ziska's room.

Finally, she found him in the room she shared with Diego, sitting cross-legged on the floor beside the bed and invisible from the doorway. He had Firebrand in his lap.

"Phoenix," Mia said gently. When he didn't look up, Mia joined him on the floor.

"Phoenix," she said again.

He still didn't respond. It was extremely difficult to drag anything out of Phoenix that he didn't want to talk about, but this was something he'd have to face.

So Mia put her back to the wall across from Phoenix, pet Pesu as he joined them, and settled in to wait for the rest of their little makeshift family to come home. Diego and Miles would be first, she knew; Maya had gone with Franziska to the prosecutor's office today and they'd probably be a while.

She didn't want to close her eyes, in case Phoenix decided he wanted to talk after all, so she balanced her elbows on her knees and smiled to herself as she thought about the change in Maya recently. The trips to Kurain had been good for more than just Phoenix- she hadn't seen her little sis so happy in a long, long time. Maya had been overjoyed to befriend Phoenix, and Miles, and Franziska, and had said more than once how happy she was to have such a close family. Miles and Franziska had given up protesting that almost no one in it was related and Phoenix had never cared in the first place.

Ever since starting up the Kurain visits, though, Maya had become awfully close to Phoenix… so much so that she worried over Miles' reaction sometimes. It was clear to her that Phoenix thought of her little sister as, well, a little sister, but would it seem like that to _Miles_?

"He's been worried about you, you know," she informed the world at large. Phoenix glanced up, then back at Firebrand. "Miles, I mean. I think he's afraid Maya is going to steal you one of these days."

That finally got a response. Starting to smile a little, Phoenix signed, _But she'd do that_.

"I'm pretty sure that's why he's worried about it." She grinned. "Might want to let him know he's supposed to _stop _her stealing you."

_He'd better_, he signed back. _She'll eat all the food_.

Mia laughed, and by the time a rather worried Miles rushed upstairs (with Diego following at a far more leisurely pace) the atmosphere in the room had lightened considerably.

Still, she left Miles and Phoenix alone as they started a rapid conversation in their personal sign language.

_What did the doctor say_? Miles signed. This was one of the benefits of sign language they hadn't known to take advantage of until moving back to the States- the level of privacy they could have for a conversation was unsurpassed. When they used the private form, not even their housemates could eavesdrop.

Though Maya still tried.

Phoenix signed a little slower than usual, a sure sign he was upset about something. _Says the pain is a…_ He paused, then made the sign for _sign_, then shrugged.

Miles blinked. Sometimes they still came to words Phoenix had no language for, even now, but he'd gotten good at figuring out what his friend was trying to say. Phoenix repeated _sign_, then added _of_, and it clicked with Miles. "Symptom?" he asked.

Phoenix nodded and signed _Hurt_, stopped again, and then tapped his throat.

"I know your throat hurt," Miles said, patiently.

Phoenix shook his head, tapped his throat again.

"I know it was hurting when you swallowed," Miles said, a little slower, since that had really worried him, but he only earned another headshake. "Not swallowing, not throat… not eating? No."

Placing the palm of his hand entirely over his throat, Phoenix stopped for a very long moment before reluctantly mouthing Miles' name.

"You _never_ do that," Miles muttered, apparently to himself, then shut his eyes as he thought.

Phoenix looked down and pet Pesu, who had curled up beside him by now. He hated when Miles closed his eyes while he was trying to talk to him. Short of shoving him, which Miles tended to ignore anyway when he was deep in thought, how was he supposed to get his friend's attention?

He shifted uncomfortably. His throat hurt worse after trying to say Miles' name. He knew he wasn't supposed to do that, so he guessed that was why, but he hadn't known how else to get his point across- and he still wasn't sure Miles had understood. He hoped so. He needed to know what Miles' opinion was.

Finally Miles opened his eyes and looked at him again. "Your…" He stumbled for a minute. "Your voice?"

Phoenix nodded frantically and signed, _Doctor wants to take away_.

Miles' stare oriented on him now. "The doctor wants to take away your voice?"

"Phoenix, do you mind if I explain?" Mia asked, appearing in the doorway quite abruptly.

Having jumped a little at her unexpected arrival, Phoenix craned his head back and nodded, then winced. Mia raised an eyebrow at him, so he signed _Please help explain_.

Mia shut the door behind her as she came in. She started to sit on the bed, then apparently thought better of it and sat on the floor with the boys.

"You're sure, Phoenix?" she asked gently, before saying anything else. When he nodded, she looked to Miles and said, "Phoenix's vocal cords are atrophied. Dr. Pillai says if he doesn't have a laryngectomy done, he'll have more trouble swallowing and eventually trouble breathing as well."

It looked an awful lot like _Miles_ had some trouble breathing after hearing that.

"She wants him to get back to her within the week," Mia added, watching Phoenix carefully. Phoenix paid her no attention, though; all his focus was on Miles.

After a long moment, Miles started to say something, then stopped.

Phoenix hugged Firebrand and leaned closer.

As discreetly as possible, Mia left the room again. She went to find Diego and his coffee- she was pretty sure she was about to need both.

"No, Phoenix," Miles said at last, quietly. "Don't- Please don't look at me like that. Don't expect me to decide for you."

The look Phoenix gave him immediately convinced him that had been the right thing to say, even as his gut wrenched in response to the hurt in his friend's eyes. The hurt, and the confusion, and the hint of panic- and Miles wondered when the last time Phoenix had actually made a major decision on his own was. He didn't know, and that was frightening.

A tug on his sleeve made Miles pay attention again.

_What do you think?_ Phoenix signed, before hugging Firebrand closer and watching Miles anxiously.

"It doesn't matter what I think," Miles said cautiously. He was afraid that if he showed any sign of leaning one way or the other, it could influence Phoenix's decision, and he didn't want to do that. "What matters is what _you _want."

Two hours later, when they finally went downstairs for dinner, he still hadn't gotten Phoenix to believe that.

The worst of it was that even if he entirely avoided betraying his own thoughts, that Phoenix should definitely get the surgery, Phoenix was still likely to pick up what the others wanted or expected of him and defer to their wishes rather than decide himself. Mia and Diego would avoid influencing Phoenix as surely as Miles would, but Maya never did think before she spoke and Franziska had never quite grasped that it wasn't all right to just order Phoenix around. Of course, she'd watched her father do so the entire time she'd known Phoenix, or just about.

Even retreating to Kurain wouldn't help, since there would still be Maya's influence.

In the end, Miles didn't know for sure whether Phoenix had really decided for himself or if he'd picked up cues from any of the rest of their cobbled-together family. He only knew the sheer relief he felt when Phoenix said he was going through with the surgery and asked Miles to come with to the hospital.


	10. Ten

**Disclaimer:** One of my friends came to visit for spring break. Four of us got together, went to see How To Train Your Dragon, went out to dinner at an Irish pub and then went bar-hopping in the city. My life's complete, I can die happy! (Also I'm not dead, have an update).

* * *

**Without Wings**

**X.

* * *

  
**

Somehow, he had thought Phoenix would be in surgery longer. He wasn't actually sure how long it had been, but it seemed like it should have been _longer. _

He couldn't have gone home even if he wanted to- Diego had ignored his protests and driven him there, saying Miles was too much of a nervous wreck to be driving anywhere at all today. So when the nurse came to tell him that Phoenix was recovering and he could go see him Miles made his way there as quickly as he could.

Phoenix was asleep, of course. As Miles sank down into the chair by the bed he wondered why he'd expected otherwise. Of course he'd be asleep, he'd only just come out of surgery. In fact, Miles could, and probably should, leave and get some tea or coffee or _something_ caffeinated in the cafeteria.

He didn't, though. He stayed there, because Phoenix tried to turn his head in his sleep just then, and his eyebrows knotted in confusion when the stiff bandages around his neck prevented it.

He stayed there when Dr. Pillai stopped to talk about oesophageal speaking and the possibility of an electrolarynx (no, he was forced to explain, the problem wasn't mechanical so those fixes wouldn't work) and asked her to please come back and speak to Phoenix directly. He stayed when a nurse came to change the bandages. He stayed when Franziska came by to try and convince him to go get lunch and when Diego came by to drop off a lunch.

He stayed until the gentle pressure of Mia's hands on his shoulders, a gesture she had used so often that they always knew it was her, woke him up some time later.

"He's awake, you know," Mia said as Miles sat up.

"How did you get in here?" Miles asked, still sleep-fogged.

Mia laughed. "I walked. But as I was saying, Phoenix is awake."

Miles turned to look at Phoenix, who was smiling at him and signing _Can we go home now?_

He kept feeling like there should be something to _adjust_ to. Phoenix hadn't liked the bandages, but that was the only real difference. Well, that and the new scar on Phoenix's throat. The others seemed to think it was barely noticeable- Diego had even made a comment to that effect- but Miles felt his own throat constrict every time he saw it.

Phoenix himself didn't seem to care. He never quite lost the habit of rubbing at his throat, but when asked he shrugged and said it hadn't hurt since he'd had the operation.

That scar found its way into Miles' dreams though, twisting into his oldest nightmares and haunting him even during his waking hours.

Because every time he saw that patch of smoother skin of Phoenix's neck… he felt crushing guilt envelop him.

For Phoenix, there was no change. It had been so long since he'd been able to speak that he didn't really miss having the necessary vocal cords, even though he'd expected to. He was surprised, actually. He'd thought having a tangible reminder he couldn't speak would be worse- but he liked it. He liked the scar, even.

He liked it a lot more than the shift and pull and choking press of black leather.

Months began to fade into each other again, but this time it wasn't the plodding monotony the von Karma household had been. Instead of that dull repetition, this was a life filled with brightness- with more family than Phoenix or Miles or Franziska, or even Mia and Diego, had ever expected to find in one lifetime. (Maya swore she wasn't surprised, though.)

Their second Christmas, Mia surprised everyone with a photo album of the time they'd spent there. There were pictures of the water fight from so long ago, of Monopoly, of movie nights, of Thanksgiving dinner, of Capture the Flag- of Miles and Phoenix asleep on the floor- of Phoenix's smile when he received his magatama- of Detective Gumshoe fleeing from Franziska's whip-

And in every photo, the slow change in the kittens became more and more obvious. They were happier with every passing week.

It wasn't long after that Larry tracked down his boyhood friends.

It was Sunday, and Phoenix wasn't surprised when the doorbell rang- Gumshoe came over a lot on Sundays, after all. Actually, Detective Gumshoe came over a lot, period. He said he liked Mia's cooking.

But Phoenix had caught some of the strange looks the detective was prone to giving Miles and Franziska and even himself sometimes, and he wasn't so sure. And he wasn't all that sure he liked the looks, either- they were concerned and affectionate, but he also thought he saw something else as well when Gumshoe's gaze lingered on Miles, and he didn't think he liked it.

He wasn't surprised when the doorbell rang, because he figured it was Gumshoe. He even went to answer it- Mia had spent weeks convincing him that it was perfectly all right for him to answer the door, but he still didn't really want to unless he knew who it was. Gumshoe was safe. Phoenix waved Miles back to his seat as he went to the door; Diego and Mia were in the kitchen anyway, and Franziska and Maya were in their room doing whatever it was teenage girls did when left to their own devices. After the last time he'd gone in there unannounced Phoenix didn't really want to know. Ever.

It wasn't Gumshoe. That was the first thing that went through Phoenix's mind.

The second was far less coherent. Unable to help himself, he slammed his eyes shut and cringed back from the explosion of noise and movement that seemed to embody the visitor. A moment later he felt Miles' presence beside him and the comforting press of Mia's hands on his shoulders.

He still remembered, with a tinge of shame, how he'd flung himself away the first time she'd done that. Mia wouldn't hurt him, but he hadn't known that then- not the way he knew now, anyway, where not only his head knew it but his heart as well. Mia wouldn't hurt him, and neither would Diego.

But at the time, Phoenix had known only that it was an unexpected touch, and that usually meant impending pain, and it made him scared and shaky and desperate to get away.

He'd thought he was past that, though. Evidently his trust in Mia and Diego wasn't up to unexpected visitors. Especially when they were so… loud and sudden.

Especially when they knew his name.

"Nick? Wow, dude, I didn't really think- Nick? Edgey?"

They knew his nickname?

Phoenix finally tuned back in to the world, realising with relief that Miles had stepped protectively in front of him and Mia had moved up to his side. Hesitantly, he reached out and grabbed a fistful of the back of Miles' shirt. His friend's only reaction was to shift in front of him a little more.

"Guys? Don't you remember me? Larry?" The man in the doorway looked uncertainly between them, then took a good look at Mia and seemed to get caught somewhere between fear and worship.

Miles was standing very still in front of Phoenix. "Larry Butz," he breathed.

Larry looked pleased. "You do remember me!" To Miles' consternation and Mia's apparent amusement, he appeared to take this as an invitation and forced his way in through the partially open front door. "I saw you guys in the paper, you know? Best defense team in the state!" Larry grinned widely.

"_Hey,_" said Diego from the hallway, mock-sternly. "Are the kittens stealing our thunder, Mia?"

Mia ignored him. "Larry Butz, Miles called you? Why don't you come in," she invited, ignoring the annoyed look she got from Miles. She'd seen the shock on his face before, and once recognition had hit, she'd seen the split-second look of happiness on Phoenix's face.

Once she had the three of them settled on the couch and chair, Mia alerted Diego with a wink and a toss of her head and left her two kittens with the new arrival.

"So!" Larry sat right at the edge of the armchair, leaning forward, smiling at Miles and Phoenix in a way that made them both a little nervous. "Man, you guys! What happened? We were best buds! We were like the three amigos-" Diego snorted from the kitchen- "And then," Larry paused for dramatic effect, then wailed, "You guys _left_ me!"

Not knowing how to respond to that, Miles simply stared disbelievingly at Larry.

Phoenix put his head in his hands and shook with laughter.

Seizing on the more responsive of the two men, Larry leaned a bit closer to Phoenix. "Man, Nick, you're awfully quiet! What's wrong? You were always such a chatterbox! Well, before Edgey showed up, you were," he amended at a (very misinterpreted) glare from Miles.

Phoenix attempted to sign that he was mute, placing his palm against his throat and tilting his head. It usually took a few tries to get across the meaning, but most people got it quick enough.

Of course, most people weren't Larry.

Six failed attempts later, Mia finally spoke up with a sigh from the hallway. She and Diego hadn't gone far, after all. "He's mute, Larry."

"Oh!" Larry stared. "How'd that happen?"

The sound of Phoenix letting his head drop into his hands was very loud.

Eventually, they got Larry to accept that yes, Phoenix was mute, and no, no one really wanted to talk about it. To Miles' very evident relief, Phoenix was more amused than hurt.

The sounds of Mia and Diego banging around in the kitchen, and the sounds of Maya and Franziska playing an old video game in their room ("What happens if I punch this guy!" "Maya, you cannot just kill civilians, they'll- see, you fool, now the guards are _shooting _at you! _Run_, you foolish _fool_!), were comforting to Miles and Phoenix as they visited with Larry. Neither one of them had ever expected to see him again, and while Miles' feelings were mixed, Phoenix was thrilled to see his old friend.

He stayed for a long time, and after that Larry became a common visitor as well. Mia couldn't begin to count the number of times he came charging in talking a mile a minute about a new girlfriend.

She also couldn't begin to count the number of times he trudged in sobbing after being dumped.

Mia loved it. Her home was a nexus for something wonderful. There were people coming and going at all times- between herself and Diego, Phoenix and Miles, Maya and Franziska and even Pesu, and now Gumshoe and Larry the house was always full of people and laughter and light.

This was what she'd left Kurain to find. More than a memory and a sense of justice and revenge, more than wanting to right wrongs, she'd wanted to experience a family and a home like this and she'd wanted Maya to experience it too. After adopting the kittens, she'd wanted it for them as well.

And Diego- her Diego. She wanted to share that world with him.

Time flew by. Maya learned sign language, inside and out, and she and Phoenix had crafted a kind of shorthand sign that even Miles couldn't always keep up with. Larry taught Phoenix how to whistle. Miles smiled and slept a little more. Franziska and Maya bickered as much as always, but it began to take on a different tone, and Mia wondered aloud to Diego one night if it was maybe irresponsible for them to be all right with the two continuing to share a room. They were teenagers, after all.

But Mia and Diego weren't really their parents, and didn't really want to be, and settled for simply making sure they had a decent education through a blush-filled conversation one day. (Diego had visual aids, and Maya declared she was deeply horrified by this, and then tried to bolt from the room when the man started giving examples because that was her _sister _he was talking about, and if she and Franziska weren't dead of embarrassment by the end of the day the lesson would have gotten through well enough, thanks).

Diego considered proposing, and Mia considered proposing, and they both held off for different reasons.

Larry convinced Miles to dress a little more normally, although he still wouldn't lose the cravat. Phoenix had long since started dressing normally and Franziska ignored all attempts at critiquing her choice of clothing.

Gumshoe worked with Franziska on almost every case. Diego asked her to stop cutting his salary, since it only resulted in Gumshoe showing up at their home right before dinner more and more often. Franziska refused. Gumshoe showed up more often.

Pesu bit Larry on the ankle one day when he tried to hug Phoenix, prompting apologies from most of the makeshift family and quite a bit of muffled laughter from Franziska. She'd held a grudge against Larry since meeting him; not surprising, as the first words he'd said to her had been along the lines of "How well do you wield that whip in bed?"

Diego had pointed out that for Larry, that was a wildly impressive line. Franziska had not been amused.

Life was still rocky sometimes, and trips to Kurain still necessary, but Mia could see her life picking up. Sometimes, lying in bed listening to Diego breathing beside her at night, she could almost visualise it- a glowing, winding path laid out before them.

Then Larry was accused of murder.

* * *

**Guardian:** For the curious, the game Maya and Franziska are playing is Jak II: Renegade.


	11. Eleven

**Disclaimer:** Sorry for the radio silence over here, my old computer died and I had to get a new one. I don't have the writing program I'm used to anymore and a bunch of files had to be converted and also, life came after me with a vengeance. But I still live!

* * *

**Without Wings**

**XI.**

* * *

"I want Nick to defend me."

Miles wasn't as surprised at those words as he should have been. Some part of him had expected them. He glanced at Phoenix and wasn't surprised, either, to see his friend nod.

_Maya_ _can translate_, Phoenix signed to Miles.

In the end, she doesn't, but only so that she and Miles can sit in the stands behind the defense bench as Mia and Phoenix defend Larry.

Watching as Phoenix quickly overcame his nervousness, as his sign language became more controlled and expressive, Miles realised that Phoenix was _good_ at this. As good as Diego. Rapidly catching up to Mia's level of skill.

And, at least to Miles' way of thinking, _far_ better at it than Miles himself.

No one was surprised when Phoenix won the case, excepting Phoenix himself. He was grinning so much his cheeks hurt when Larry was declared innocent.

Mia took the heavy statue of the Thinker from him. "We can keep it in the office," she explained at his hurt look. "As a reminder of your first court case."

Phoenix lit up, smile becoming impossibly wider.

"I'm so proud of you," Mia continued, gaze sweeping to include Miles and Franziska as well. "All of you. And, well, maybe we're not a family in the traditional sense- but I love you all." Her smile softened at the varying expressions on her kitten's faces. "I just thought you all should hear that."

"Me too, right sis?" Maya piped up.

Mia laughed and ruffled her sister's hair. "How could I forget you, Maya?"

"Hey," Diego called from near where they were parked. "I've got us reservations at my favourite place, kittens. Don't normally need'em, but," his gaze swept over the assembled group, "We're a bit larger party than they're prepared for on short notice."

Their regular group was large enough now that even outsiders rarely noticed that one of them never spoke.

Because they were all comfortable enough with the idea now, the next time Phoenix and Maya went to Kurain, Mia didn't go with. Maya and Phoenix communicated well enough that she didn't really need to, and she had a few things she wanted to take care of at the office that she'd rather they not be around for anyway.

Looking at the Thinker clock where she'd stored the relevant papers, though, Mia sighed as a realisation hit her and picked up the phone.

"Maya? Hey, I'm sorry to call you while you're in Kurain, but I have a favour to ask you…"

Even catching the first available train back, Phoenix and Maya didn't arrive at the office until late. Phoenix wanted to go home first and visit Miles. Maya was adamant, but she relented when she saw just how badly Phoenix wanted to stop by.

Once there, Diego absolutely wouldn't let them go to the office without him. Miles was asleep and no one wanted to wake him, and Franziska had stayed late at work, so just the three of them planned to go.

"We can surprise Mia-kitten, yeah?" He said with a wink as the three scrambled into his battered, beloved car. "Besides, this is much faster than having to call a cab. Cheaper, too."

When they reached the office, Diego couldn't seem to stop fidgeting with something in his pocket. After he parked, he twisted in his seat to address the younger lawyer and spirit medium. "Hey, kittens, I'm going to go ahead, okay? I have…" His eyes softened and he stopped fidgeting for a moment. "I have something to talk to Mia about first."

Phoenix nodded enthusiastically while Maya made vague noises of agreement and returned to counting the number of discarded coffee cups on the floor.

It wasn't until they heard an enraged shout, quickly cut off, that the two rushed in.

They found Diego unconscious, clearly having suffered a blow to the head like Mia before him.

Unlike Mia, Diego was still breathing.

Phoenix was pretty sure he was in shock as he moved to examine the room. Maya was _definitely_ in shock, sobbing beside her sister and the unconscious Diego. After a while, she stood up and lurched towards Phoenix.

He put his arms around her awkwardly, still staring at the Chief's body and wondering why he wasn't sobbing himself. He wanted to go check and find that his senses were lying to him, that Mia was fine. He wanted to call the police, wanted to call an ambulance for Diego, but he couldn't use the phone and Maya was in no state to make the call.

Those decisions were quickly taken out of his hands. Maya fainted as he held her upright, so he carried her out to the front office and laid her on the couch before returning to try and rouse Diego and look for clues.

Mia's body was still warm, which he was sure would haunt him for many nights after this one. Especially as he felt the warmth fade. Especially as he checked again and again for a pulse that wasn't there.

He found clues, though, the lawyer part of him acting on instinct. A broken light stand. The Thinker clock, that- that was only kept here as a memento of his first case. Phoenix's eyes burned as he looked at it, then away, and he spotted the piece of paper fluttering in Mia's hand.

It had Maya's name written on it in blood. Phoenix felt lead coil in his stomach.

He didn't see anything else, so he started on trying to wake Diego. Diego would know what to do. Diego would be able to call the police. Diego would be calm and coherent, even now.

Diego wouldn't be or do any of those things, because Phoenix couldn't wake Diego up.

His attempts to do so were interrupted by a scream from outside the window. Looking up, hoping desperately for some kind of help, he saw a terrified-looking woman staring through the window. Straight at him.

That leaden feeling in his stomach grew worse.

He couldn't wake Diego, and he couldn't call the police, so Phoenix went to check on Maya.

She wasn't on the couch.

Searching frantically, he almost jumped out of his skin when she appeared behind him suddenly.

"Nick," she cried, throwing herself at him again. "Nick, who'd do this? Did you find anything? Is… is Diego okay?"

Phoenix tried to free his arms to answer her and couldn't, so he wriggled one arm out of her grasp to show her the receipt with her name on it.

Maya's eyes watered again as she stared at it. "B-but why would Sis write _my_ name?" she stammered.

He shook his head just as they both heard the sounds of sirens outside. Maya stiffened, then ran to the door and threw it open.

"Gumshoe!" she cried as the detective ran towards the building. "Gumshoe, Gumshoe, you've gotta help! Diego needs an ambulance, and Mia… _Mia_…!"

"Calm down," Gumshoe said, not unkindly, to both her and Phoenix. Phoenix thought he was still in too much shock to be anything but calm, but nodded anyway.

"We received a report from the building across the way," Gumshoe continued, picking his way further into the office with Phoenix and Maya on his heels. "A woman said she saw a murder." He slowed a little, then looked worriedly to Phoenix. "Uh, pal? Is… is Mr. Edgeworth okay?"

Phoenix nodded vigorously, then signed _Chief _over and over again and pointed to the door. Then he signed, _Ambulance. Need ambulance_.

"He says you need to call an ambulance," Maya translated.

"Already on its way," Gumshoe assured her. "Can you two wait here for a moment?"

Without waiting for their agreement, Gumshoe ducked into the next room, only to return moments later with a defeated expression and a crumpled piece of paper in his hand.

Swallowing, he said quietly, "I'm gonna have to arrest you, Maya."

Before anyone could take Maya away, Phoenix interposed himself quickly and signed, _Did you find anything else?_

After a quick translation Gumshoe nodded. "This fell out of Mr. Armando's pocket, pal."

He showed them what Diego had been playing with on his way into the building.

It was a ring.

After Maya was taken away, and after Diego was taken to the hospital and Phoenix was let out of questioning, Gumshoe drove Phoenix home since Phoenix didn't have another way to _get_ home. Gumshoe spent a moment just sitting in the car in the driveway, watching Phoenix stare down at his hands in his lap. Finally Gumshoe cleared his throat.

"I, uh. I think you should have this, pal."

He held out the ring.

"I know it was found at the scene of the crime and all, but… it isn't like it's really evidence. I mean, not really, right? I just…" Gumshoe fell silent a moment. "I think you should hold on to it."

Phoenix nodded and took the ring, running his fingers over it before slipping it into a pocket of his- Diego's- hoodie. He was dreading going into the house- it would feel wrong without Mia and Diego and Maya there. Turning to Gumshoe, he signed, _Would you like to come in?_

The detective's face fell. "I… I can't understand you, pal."

Phoenix sighed and got out of the car, shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie as he did so. For the first time in a long time he wanted to kick something in frustration. Mia had made his handicap seem, well, not a handicap, but there was no Mia now to make him just another normal person. There never would be again. There was no Mia, and if Diego ever woke up he'd never be the same, and if they couldn't prove her innocent there would be no Maya either.

To Phoenix's surprise, Gumshoe got out of the car as well, looking hopeful. "I can come in and Mr. Edgeworth or Ms. von Karma can translate."

After a moment's hesitation, Phoenix nodded. It seemed ridiculous to have Gumshoe come in so that he could ask him if he'd like to come in, but all the same, Phoenix didn't want to walk in alone. More than that, he didn't want to explain himself alone.

After he let himself in quietly with his key and motioned Gumshoe in behind him, Phoenix simply stood in the entryway for a long moment.

The house was quiet. Far quieter than he could ever remember it being.

Always before, no matter the time of night, he'd hear Maya snoring in her sleep or arguing with Franziska. He'd hear Diego clattering around in the kitchen as he made yet another cup of coffee. He'd hear Mia scolding Diego for drinking coffee so late at night. He'd hear _something_.

But the house was silent.

* * *

**Guardian: **I'm, uh, gonna go hide now.


	12. Twelve

**Disclaimer:** Got a full time job, got in a car crash, everyone's okay, I'm still around. Gonna be slow(er?) update on things, though, between work and my nephew and life in general coming after me.

* * *

**Without Wings**

**XII.

* * *

  
**

Cocking his head to the side briefly and shutting his eyes, Phoenix whistled. Franziska would hear it and go back to sleep, but Miles never ignored a whistle.

Waving Gumshoe to the worn armchair, Phoenix sat down on the couch himself as he heard a door open upstairs and Miles and Pesu came trotting downstairs.

"Phoenix?" Miles asked blearily as he padded into the room. "You're supposed to be in Kurain. And Detective Gumshoe, why are you here? It's… late," he paused to squint at the clock across the room. Mia had always liked the old analogue clocks, so it was harder to see in the dark. "Very late."

When Phoenix showed no signs of answering, instead staring at the floor and tracing the scar on his neck absentmindedly, Gumshoe cleared his throat. "There… was a murder, pal."

Miles froze, halfway through sitting down, and then slowly lowered himself into the chair and exhaled loudly. "Please tell me what happened, Detective."

Haltingly, Gumshoe did so, with Miles repeatedly stopping him to ask questions. It was a good deal later when they finished. Partway through Franziska had emerged from her room, awakened by the lights, and Gumshoe had to start over.

The entire time Phoenix didn't sign a single word, continuing to stare a hole through the floor.

When they finished, Franziska said sharply, "Of course my little brother will defend Maya. He will prove her innocence beyond a shadow of a doubt. This… foolish farce of a trial will not take long."

Miles gripped his sleeve tightly as he said, "No."

Phoenix's head snapped up and he glared at his friend, his accusations ringing louder than Franziska and Gumshoe's loud exclamations.

"No," Miles repeated patiently. "Phoenix should defend her. He's the better lawyer."

After a beat of silence that seemed to go on much longer, while Gumshoe grew uneasy and Franziska's eyes narrowed at the apparent wordless communication between her 'brothers,' Phoenix nodded.

"We should all get some sleep before tomorrow's investigation," Franziska said at last, quietly, wringing her whip. "It would be… absurd to do otherwise."

Phoenix's raised eyebrow was the only comment on the choice of adjective.

Gumshoe stood up to go, but even he could catch that Phoenix's immediate sign meant _Stay_.

The detective doubted the three actually managed much sleep that night- after all, when he left the guest bedroom in the morning, unable to lie in bed any longer, the young lawyers were still sprawled out around the living room. Well, Phoenix was sprawled. Miles and Franziska were seated. Miles was petting Pesu, the dog blissfully asleep with his head on Miles' knee.

Only Phoenix even had his eyes closed, and he opened them too quickly to have truly been asleep.

Clearing his throat, Gumshoe tried not to feel like he was taking on a responsibility as he said, "Let's get down to the detention center."

Miles and Franziska were up and moving almost before the words were out of his mouth. Phoenix _was_ moving before the words were out of his mouth.

Watching them, Gumshoe _really_ didn't feel like he was up to taking on the kind of responsibility Mia and Diego had. He didn't think he could do it- he'd be too afraid of hurting them worse than they clearly had been in the past.

And anyway, he thought they were moving past that need for a guardian. He was envious of the way they seemed to plan what they were doing without ever speaking a word, the way they each anticipated what the others were about to do.

Gumshoe wasn't stupid, whatever others may have thought. He could have cared less what others thought. He wasn't as smart as most and he knew it, but he was a good and honest person to make up for that, and he was loyal through and through. Whatever rumours he'd heard in the past, Mia and her sister and her charges had earned his respect and loyalty, and he'd help them as best as he could on this case.

Then, he thought he'd better clear off for a bit, so that Mia's 'kittens' could see that they would be all right on their own.

There was no way the detention center would let the whole group of them in, so since Maya's sign language was more than up to snuff Phoenix went in alone. The others went to visit Diego in the hospital as Phoenix questioned Maya.

_What was that phone call about?_ he signed right away, referring to the call that had pulled them away from Kurain in the first place.

Maya brightened a little, although her eyes were still red from crying. "Do you wanna hear it? I have it recorded. I don't know how to keep my cell phone from doing that," she added.

Brightening a little himself, Phoenix nodded.

Maya thought for a moment, then groaned. "Oh. Detective Gumshoe has my cell phone."

_I'll ask him when I see him_, Phoenix signed, not adding that it would be fairly soon. Miles would pick him up in a while so that he could go to the hospital and see Diego as well.

As if she could tune into his thoughts, Maya asked him, "How's Diego? Do you know?"

Phoenix shook his head.

Sighing, Maya wrote out a reminder to Detective Gumshoe about the cell phone and gave it to Phoenix. Then she hesitated.

_What?_ Phoenix signed at last.

"I…I still want you to defend me, Nick," Maya said quickly. "But Mia always told me… that if I was ever in trouble, I should contact Marvin Grossberg." She swallowed before adding, in a small voice, "Or Diego."

After a minute of debate, Phoenix asked, _Do you want him to defend you?_

"No! No, I'd rather have you. You're family," Maya smiled weakly. "But… I'd feel better if you'd ask him for advice. I'd feel… more like I'm actually following Sis' advice, if that makes any sense."

Phoenix nodded, and dutifully wrote down the address she gave him. Maya felt a quick thrill of happiness that Phoenix was finally comfortable enough to write around her.

When he showed her what he'd written down, she was even happier to sign that there were only one or two spelling errors, and they were minor.

Phoenix hesitated a moment when he left the detention center. Miles was going to pick him up here, but Miles would probably be a while yet. Grossberg's office was easily within walking distance and visiting hours at the detention center were over soon.

Figuring he'd be back in plenty of time, Phoenix headed over to Grossberg's office, only to be stopped at the door. Ten frustrating minutes of wild gesturing and pointing at Marvin Grossberg's name on the wall later he was haughtily informed that Grossberg was out of the office at the moment.

Sighing, Phoenix trudged back towards the detention center and Maya. Miles still wasn't there, and he had no reason to go back inside without any good news for Maya, so he leaned on a wall and watched the sky as he waited. Now he was tired from walking, hungry, cold, and he missed Mia with a raw desperate ache. If he'd had Mia with him it wouldn't have taken so long to get his message across to that secretary, he was sure of it.

Of course, Diego could have translated as well- if he weren't in the hospital. As could Miles- if he hadn't been checking on Diego. Or Maya- if she hadn't been arrested, suspected of murdering her sister.

Phoenix groaned, throwing his head back and sliding down the wall until he was sitting on the sidewalk. He didn't know how long he stayed like that before a light touch on his shoulder startled him badly.

Shying away, he looked up into the concerned face of a man he'd never seen before.

Crouching to bring his face level with Phoenix's, the man said, "Are you okay, dude? You looked kinda out of it."

Trying to shift further away from the stranger without being too obvious about it, Phoenix shook his head without thinking. No. No, he definitely wasn't okay.

Unfortunately, that response prompted the man to lean against the wall as well and keep talking to Phoenix. "So what's wrong? I hear talking about these things helps. And, well," the man glanced around, wrinkling his nose and nearly inhaling the… whatever it was he was chewing on. Phoenix couldn't keep from staring a moment- was that a _weed_? "This isn't exactly a normal place to sit and think, you know?"

Phoenix replied with a half-hearted shrug.

The stranger laughed. "You're a quiet one." He was silent a moment himself, making Phoenix profoundly uncomfortable, before continuing. "I wish… some people I know were more like that. But I don't think he's got a clue how to shut up ," he muttered, then stood up. "Sorry we didn't get properly introduced, mystery dude, but it looks like your ride's here so I'll be on my way."

It wasn't until he was sitting in the passenger seat of Miles' car, silently going over the evidence so far in his head while Miles gave him a report on Diego's condition, that Phoenix realised he'd just had a relatively normal conversation with a total stranger. His being mute had never come into play.


End file.
